Greek Masquerade
by HuddyJibbsAddict
Summary: A compilation of prompts from my Tumblr, starting with the 2015 OQ week. Ratings vary from T to M. 25/11: Missing Year prompt: Regina and Robin admit their feelings right before the Curse hit (OutlawQueen Roland)
1. OQ Week 2015 Day 1: Dropping the masks

First OQ week prompt: Masquerade Ball.

Set early in the Missing Year and betaed by the wonderful TBuddah!

Enjoy!

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Dropping the masks

Regina loathed the whole idea and she had every intention to make it known. Snow had forced her hand into accepting to attend this Masquerade Ball as some sort of celebration for successfully taking back the castle, but if her stepdaughter thought for one second she wa**s** going to quietly socialise with people she, for the most part despised, she had another thing coming.

How the Charmings did it she had no idea. Keeping their hopes up, raising everyone's spirits, celebrating, when the only thing she wanted to do was crawl into bed and cry for several weeks, months, years. Not that it would help, nothing helped. Henry was gone, living a normal life with his other mother, with no knowledge of what had been, what was left behind. He'd crossed the town line with the woman he had wanted so badly to replace her, Emma, whom Regina gave her own memories to while she herself was brought back to this cursed land, this dreadful realm she had no trouble leaving in the first place.

That was probably the major difference between her and the Charmings. They had each other, would probably always have each other, and she had no one. Snow would certainly argue with that but things were as they were. She was alone and grieving and in absolutely no hurry to get to the ballroom.

She was already running almost an hour late, and the closer she got to the room, the slower her steps became. She took a deep breath, not an easily accomplished feat given what she was wearing, and, with a flick of her hand, opened the double doors.

* * *

The loud bang that echoed throughout the room as the doors hit the walls startled everyone. Robin turned towards the entrance just like everyone else. _She is stunning_, was his first thought, followed closely by, _she certainly knows how to make an entrance, _not that it surprised him. Even with the feathered black mask partially concealing her face, there was no doubt as to who the figure clad in the satiny black, strapless, ball gown belonged to.

As his eyes took her in, he wondered how she could possibly breathe in such a tight corset, but he certainly couldn't complain. He appreciated what it was doing to her cleavage, curves on full display, enhanced by the jewels lining the top, and Robin could feel his mouth watering, his blood rushing south. He adjusted himself discreetly, and he would bet he wasn't the only one to do so, but probably the only one who would willingly admit to it. There was no denying the Queen was one of the most sublime creatures he had ever set eyes on, and he had difficulty understanding how anyone in this strange assembly could possibly compare her to Snow White. They were not playing in the same court and that was quite obvious.

He was distracted from his thoughts by his boy, who had suddenly taken off and was running in the Queen's direction. Roland had been insistent on his costume for the ball, and Robin still wondered where the Princess Snow White and the old woman, Granny, had managed to procure a knight outfit that wouldn't be too much trouble fitting to Roland's small frame. The Queen had called his boy her little knight, a nickname that had stuck, and, if the half-smile she was trying to fight was anything to go by, she certainly appreciated the gesture. That, or the flowers Roland had painstakingly picked out this afternoon before they got ready for the evening, and was now giving to her.

Some of his men were exchanging worried looks as they observed the little boy and the Queen. A couple of them even seemed to consider stepping in as Roland took one of Regina's hands and led her to a less crowded side of the room, but Robin stopped them with a frown and a shake of his head. The Queen had saved his boy's life, that alone had earned his trust. He had been given the chance to peek behind the harsh façade she erected for the world and had gotten a glimpse of the sad and broken woman hiding behind. He wouldn't let anyone treat her like some sort of pariah, not if he could help it.

* * *

The moment she set foot in the room she was aware of _his _eyes on her, even if everyone was looking at her. She hadn't realised until now how much this man had ingrained himself in her life, in her thoughts. She barely knew him, had met him only a few short weeks ago, but he was everywhere, they were always crossing paths, and she had no idea how to feel about it. He knew who she was, what she had done and still kept seeking her company. He even let his son near her. It baffled her completely. Most people here did everything they could to stay out of her way but not him. There was something about this Robin Hood she couldn't explain and that intrigued and annoyed her.

Regina groaned internally when she saw Snow approaching her determinedly. and she groaned internally. She was saved, however, by a small boy running towards her, wearing a knight outfit and holding a bouquet of wild flowers. Roland was adorable. He stopped right in front of her and, after throwing everyone a sharp look, and watching as they turned away, she got down to his level and took the flowers he was offering.

"Thank you, Roland. They're beautiful." She told him, a small smile burgeoning on her lips, and he responded in kind, his dimples deepening.

She resisted the temptation to look for his father. It was a mask-ball after all, and she wasn't supposed to be able to recognize anyone. She was the Evil Queen though, and, for years, her survival depended on her observation skills. A few costumes would not stop her.

Roland led her to a corner, and she twirled him in rhythm with the music until he was dizzy. He asked for tricks then and his request gave her pause. To this boy her magic wasn't harmful. It had protected him against the flying monkey, and it was fun, with colourful lights and animated toys appearing out of thin air. All those things she never had the chance to share with Henry and it broke something inside her. Her son associated her magic with sleeping curses and taking out hearts and absorbing lethal doses of power in her own body. He had even wanted to destroy it once. It meant pain and death, but to Roland, it was almost pure, and she would make sure it stayed that way.

Almost two hours passed before the little outlaw got really tired. His eyes drooped more and more, little fists rubbing at them as he leant against her. She debated taking him back to his room, using it as an excuse to leave without seeming rude, but he wasn't her son, and, even if she could care less about what people thought, she didn't want to have to endure the whispers and the questioning looks. The giant, everyone ironically called Little John, took the choice out of her hands, literally, by scooping the boy into his own arms. Roland waved at her tiredly over John's shoulder, and she waved back.

* * *

Robin observed them from afar, amazed at how Roland responded to the Queen. His boy had taken a shine to her so quickly, he who had never really known a maternal presence in his life. A mother without a son, a son without a mother, a well-matched pair they were, he thought, as he watched Roland wave goodbye.

Robin advanced towards the Queen, but the Prince, Robin thought it was him anyway, beat him to it. Although the Queen didn't seem very interested in what the other man was saying. During the conversation, her eyes locked with his across the room, and Robin felt a sudden surge of confidence. He crossed the room the rest of the way and stopped right in front of her, completely ignoring the Prince, not saying a word, only offering his hand for her to take just as the orchestra started playing a waltz.

* * *

Regina was vaguely conscious of his advance towards her, and she looked him over from the corner of her eyes. _He cleans up nice_, was her first thought, very closely followed by, _why on Earth is he heading towards me like that? _He had improved his usual outfit, the tailored white shirt, forest green jacket and black dress pants probably came from Charming's wardrobe, but they fit the thief rather well.

She didn't have time to wonder further about his appearance or his intentions, as suddenly, David was standing right in front of her. _So much for being observant_, she mused, mentally rolling eyes at herself. He asked her to dance but, even if they were trying to sell the co-ruling, there was no way she was going to accept such an offer when it had most likely been suggested by Snow. She had no wish to be here, and she certainly wasn't going to accept anyone's pity.

At some point, Regina decided to ignore the Shepherd, and instead turned her attention back to the thief. Their eyes locked, and she narrowed hers slightly as she watched him cover the distance separating them swiftly. She looked at him intently, dark eyes getting lost in blue ones, as she waited for him to talk, to tell her why he had crossed the whole room to come to her corner, but he didn't say a word.

He offered his hand, and she looked between it and his face several times before it dawned on her. It was a Masquerade Ball, they were all wearing masks, and tonight, they could pretend they were other people, whatever happened tonight could be forgotten in the morning.

He was giving her the opportunity to pretend she was not the Queen, and that he was not the Outlaw who was slowly but surely getting under her skin.

It was complete and utter madness, but she accepted, took his hand and let him lead her to the centre of the room just as the orchestra switched to a waltz, leaving a dumbfounded David behind.

* * *

_They fit_, he thought as he clasped her left hand in his right and settled his left around her waist, eye contact never breaking.

They moved seamlessly, as if they had danced together all their lives, as if they had been made to dance together all their lives. It was a strange feeling, how right this was. He barely knew her, but, at the same time, there was some part of him that felt recognition each time she was near.

They whirled in the centre of the room, never exchanging a word, none felt necessary. They didn't notice how the other couples slowly stopped dancing to watch them. They were lost in their own little world, and one dance turned into two, then three, and before either of them realised it, midnight struck and the spell was broken.

One second he was holding her against him, and the next, she was leaving the room in a hurry.

* * *

It had been a long time since Regina had danced like that. The last time was probably when Leopold was still alive. She hadn't cared about any of that once she had become "the Evil Queen". There had been a few invitations, by neighbouring kings, eager to stay on her good side, and she usually had honoured them with her presence, but she had never danced there, not at all willing to have unwanted, grabby, wandering hands on her. Not ever again.

His hands didn't feel like that, his right clasped in her left one was warm, strong, calloused, his left around her waist never stirred, never applied more pressure than necessary. His touch was not lewd or lascivious, but rather attentive and strong. It seemed the outlaw had some gentlemanly traits to him.

When she had danced with Leopold, she would look everywhere but him, always wondering when it would end, when she would be allowed to get to the solitude of her chambers.

This time, however, she couldn't look away from Robin. They were in sync, anticipating the other's next step, never making a wrong move, never breaking the rhythm, always adapting to the changing music. She felt- dare she think it- safe, like she might actually enjoy herself, which also felt terrifying. She had lost count of how long they had been there, only aware of the diminishing space between them, when midnight struck.

It was like a wake-up call for her. What was she doing? What were they doing? Panic gripped her, and she acted instinctively and fled.

* * *

Robin followed after her. She hadn't gone far, just a corridor away so she wouldn't be visible from the ballroom. She was facing the wall, leaning against it, and he approached her cautiously, making enough noise so she wouldn't be startled.

"Your Majesty, I apologize if I offended you in any way. It was never my intention." He said, surprised when she turned around, looking confused.

"You think you offended me?" She asked, brow furrowing, and he wondered if he imagined the tears in her eyes.

"I can't imagine what else would cause you to run away." He replied, tilting his head to the side.

She seemed to ponder her response as she looked away from him, lifting her hand to cover her stomach.

"You did nothing wrong. I just felt it was time to put an end to the dance. I wouldn't want people to talk unnecessarily. They have quite an imagination and you don't want false rumours to be spread about your association with me." She said in what was probably supposed to be a hard and confident tone, but Robin didn't buy it.

"I can decide that for myself. I'm not one to care about rumours or other people's opinions, and I didn't think you were either." He retorted, and her eyes snapped back to his, narrowing, her mouth thinned, drawing his gaze toward her lips.

"I don't, but are you certain you want everyone to see you trust me with your son?" She inquired, and Robin shook his head, amused.

"Considering my son grew up in the forest, surrounded by men who don't really care about good manners or sometimes even proper hygiene, I really believe spending time with the Queen is rather an improvement."

"Even if she is Evil?" She asked softly, grimacing a bit.

"I raised Roland so he would always believe that people can change, and as long as they are willing to work for it, they are deserving of a second chance. It would be rather hypocritical of me to regard you as unredeemable when so many among my own men, and I won't even talk about my own past, came to me for a chance to start over. I don't think you're the same person who left this land all those years ago and I don't think you chose this path, but I won't speculate. After all, we have only just met."

During his little speech, Robin had slowly walked closer, giving Regina time to stop him if she felt uncomfortable, which she didn't do, and his last sentence was whispered against her cheek as he breathed her in.

* * *

She had initially backed fully against the wall when he started reducing the distance between them, but his words and his eyes appeased her a bit, and some of the tension lifted from her shoulders. She closed her eyes as she felt his breath against her skin, the smell of forest clinging to him, surrounding her.

He usually stood closer than anybody else ever dared, even Snow, and she didn't know how she was supposed to react to that. Acknowledging it would have meant acknowledging the effect he had on her, not acknowledging it would probably have given the message that it was alright for him to continue, and she was not sure she wanted that either. This was more though, he was closer than ever before, but she didn't want to push him away.

"Maybe it's time to drop the masks." He murmured, taking off his and raising his hand to untie the knot of the ribbon at the back of her head. Both masks slid against her dress and fell to the ground, but neither of them cared much. Their eyes locked again.

"It's madness, but since we met I can't get you out of my thoughts. You're everywhere, and I feel like I know you somehow, as if some part of me recognizes you." Robin whispered and Regina's initial response was a snort because he is the one who is everywhere, invading her every thought, but then her breath hitched.

What he had just said, about a part of him recognizing her, something about that hit too close to home, and she wondered if this was what she was supposed to have all those years ago, when Tinkerbell led her to the tavern, led her to her soulmate, and she was too afraid to go in. What if- no this was ridiculous and impossible, not after all this time.

Her expression must have betrayed her troubled thoughts because he leant even closer, their foreheads almost touching, before saying,

"You feel it too, don't you?" She couldn't stop herself from nodding, his presence clouding her brain, her usual defence mechanisms ineffective. Her eyes dropped from his to his lips, and he didn't miss it.

In an instant he brushed her lips with his, a fleeting contact, not even giving her enough time to close her eyes and feel it fully, and she felt a frown pull at her lips as he straightened up.

This wouldn't do, she thought, as she seized the lapels of his borrowed jacket and brought his lips back to hers. She felt him smile against her lips, the action provoking her to bite his gently in retaliation. His arms surrounded her, one around her waist, one buried in her hair as he combed through her dark tresses, as they deepened the kiss.

Tonight meant nothing, it was a Masquerade, even if they no longer wore their masks, what happened could be ignored. At least, that's how she justified it. He had been getting under her skin since the moment they met, and she was only getting it out of her system. Tomorrow, she would go back to her solitude, she would push him away again, she would drown in her self-loathing and her grief. He may think she was worth it but she knew better. Whatever pull they felt towards one another, whatever effect he had on her, she would stifle it all. He and his son would only get hurt if they stayed close.

Tomorrow, she would ignore him, but tonight, just for tonight, she would let herself be cared for.

The End

* * *

Next one on Friday, for the mythology prompt. I had an idea for the being caught one but not enough to write it so I'll probably post it later.


	2. Day 5: The 12 Labours of Robin Hood

For Day 5 of the 2015 OQ Week: Greek Mythology AU. My take on the 12 Labours of Hercules.

Enjoy and please tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or its characters.

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**The twelve Labours of Robin Hood**

Robin was running, running, running. His throat and lungs were burning, his muscles were cramping but he couldn't stop running. For days, he had been pursuing those men and it was finally down to one; the leader of the group, the most vicious one, the one who was really responsible for the massacre. Robin had to make sure he got what he deserved, no matter the cost.

He hadn't been thinking straight since he came home from the battle of Marathon to find- no, it wasn't the time to relive that. Now was the time to finish what he started. He would crumble and mourn his losses later.

He felt like he had travelled across half of Greece, and it was close to the truth, but this chase was coming to an end.

Robin was gaining ground on the man and he wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings, only aware that they were now ascending a hill. He never noticed the great marble structure they were approaching.

He only saw red, red like the blood of the other men he had killed, red like the blood of the man who was now... kneeling on the ground?

"Please, help me, help me..." The man was begging, in an unceasing mantra, over and over, to who-knows-which deity. His prayers remained unanswered as Robin finally towered over him, seizing him by the hair and making him stand back up.

He used his fists, his feet, his elbows, even his head, anything to hit this worthless excuse of a man. Robin looked down at the bruised, bleeding man on the ground trying to crawl away from him. He took his knife out and finished him, the cries of pain were music to his ears, and he stabbed and stabbed, until the man cried no more. Robin stayed there, watching the pool of blood growing and growing, until it reached the feet of a statue and a thunder clap resounded suddenly.

A booming voice echoed all around him, and for the first time Robin realised he was in a temple.

"Who do you think you are, mortal? You, who just drew blood and sullied my temple."

Robin thought he was going mad, and he dropped his knife as his jaw went slack. Surely, he was imagining that the head of the statue had moved and was looking in his direction, the blank, supposedly unseeing eyes, fixing his own.

He took a deep breath and answered in the most assured tone he could muster.

"I am Robin of Plataea, who fought in the battle of Marathon and came home victorious but what's victory when lowlifes like this," he said, kicking the body lying on the floor, "take advantage of the city being less protected to attack it and rob it and kill women and children? What's victory when I found my wife, who was carrying my child, broken, bruised, bleeding to death on the floor, with five men standing over her. Five men who weren't even brave enough to stay and fight. They fled like cowards and I pursued them and I killed them until the last. I don't care what the Gods have to say about it now because you weren't there when it mattered. You weren't there when my wife and her friends were fighting for their lives and you weren't there when I called to any God who would listen, begging for help. I did what I had to do and I would do it again. Whatever you wish to throw at me, I can take it."

There was a pause, a long pause, and Robin started to think he had imagined the whole thing when the voice spoke again.

* * *

Regina Nemesis had been observing him for a while. Unaware of the massacre of Plataea until it was too late, her attention diverted by the battle of Marathon, with both sides loudly calling out for revenge, it took her time to quieten the voices enough to hear anything else. When she had, his calls seemed louder than anything she had ever heard before.

She was the ruthless Goddess of revenge, of retribution. Nobody escaped her punishments, she was unyielding and remorseless, but even she felt at a loss in front of such savagery. She hadn't intervened because she knew there was nothing she could do that would possibly appease this man and his friends after having lost their families the way they did.

An offence in her sanctuary, however, couldn't be ignored. It could lead to mortals believing temples weren't sacred anymore and the other Gods would have her head for it, or try to anyway, not that she cared much about it. They feared her, her power was more ancient than theirs and revenge was something mortals would always seek. She would never be forgotten, not until the end of times.

None of this mattered though, she was the one who dispensed justice and she had let this go on long enough. Even with all the blood on his hands, this man could be saved, she knew it, if only she could convince him to listen.

As he bravely justified his actions and called on the absence of a response by the Gods, she was taken aback. She was used to grovelling mortals, who were either begging for her to unleash her wrath on those who supposedly wronged them, or imploring for her forgiveness for the crimes they themselves committed. This man was not remorseful, he had asked for help and taken matters in his own hands when it didn't come. He seemed ready to accept any punishment she would deem appropriate.

This made her even more determined with her course of action. Her silence had thrown him off, and as he turned to leave, she spoke again, choosing not to use her statue but instead appearing in the temple itself, invisible to him and thus able to observe him more closely.

"Those men were mine to punish, and if you had been patient, I would have, but certainly not in my own temple. However, first, I had to make sure the victors of the battle of Marathon would not be more cruel than necessary and that the vanquished would not attempt some desperate actions. Your crimes deserve punishment, and since you don't seem to care too much about your own life, maybe you would even want me to cut it short so you could join your wife in Hades." His expression told her she had guessed right, and she continued, "I have a proposal for you. You will offer your services to King Leopold of Tiryns, who will entrust you with several difficult, some might even say impossible tasks, and when you have accomplished ten of them, you will be forgiven. I will even let you choose between joining your wife and continuing your life on this Earth."

He appeared surprised by such an offer and stayed silent as he considered it.

"Why him?" He finally asked, looking right at her, and her breath caught as she wondered if he could see her. His eyes weren't focusing though, as if he had a general inkling as to where she was but couldn't distinguish her. It was the first time something like that had ever happened to her.

"King Leopold? Let's just say this is a case of two birds, one stone. The man needs to be taken down a peg or two and I'm confident in your abilities to help with that." She answered simply, smirking. He would soon find out for himself that Leopold's arrogance had no limit. "Do you accept my proposal?"

* * *

Robin didn't have many other options and he knew it. The Goddess hadn't seemed too inclined to give him what he wanted most, to join his wife. It would have looked like a reward, he had to pay for his crimes first, not that it seemed fair to him. Maybe he would die during one of those impossible tasks, maybe that was her intent.

He was on the road to Tiryns, to meet this king he was to serve. The Goddess popped into his thoughts every now and then. Regina Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, he'd found out later that it was her temple he'd stumbled into. How fitting.

When she had proposed this arrangement, he thought he was able to feel her presence in the sanctuary. Her voice hadn't come from the statue but had echoed throughout the whole structure. From the corner of his eyes, he had discerned a shimmer, a silhouette all lights seemed to converge to. He had known at once it was her. He couldn't make out her features but he had known, and he wondered if the legends were true and if her contact would burn him.

He shook off this fleeting thought as he finally ascended the hill on top of which stood Tiryns. He gave his name to the guards at the door and was told he was expected by the King. One of them guided him to the palace and its large reception hall.

King Leopold was sitting on his throne placed against the right wall and Robin saluted him.

"Here he is, the offender to the Goddess who comes here to repent. I was given some instructions for your punishment." The monarch informed him, leaning back in his royal seat.

Robin instantly felt an intense dislike towards the man and his superior air, and he understood better why the Goddess wanted to "take him down a peg or two".

He tuned the King out as he went on and on about the dangerousness of the tasks he would have to perform, how many before him had attempted them and perished doing so. _If only_, Robin thought.

He was then led to his room and told to return to the throne room in the morning where his first labour would be revealed to him and he would be able to arm himself before leaving.

He dreamt of her for the first time that night. As he had settled in the bed, and closed his eyes, he had thought of Marian, the life they had and the one they would never have together with their child. His dream had changed though, Marian's face morphing into another, one he had never seen before but would never be able to forget.

Long, wavy black hair, surrounding an olive-toned oval where two intense dark eyes were shining, her mouth, with its dark red lips, lips that were calling his name. His eyes were drawn to the scar on the right side of her upper lip, he clenched his hand to stop himself from running his fingers along it, and he wondered why a Goddess wouldn't be able to make it disappear. His gaze wandered and took in her white form-fitting gown and the golden belt encircling her waist.

"Be careful, they will not let you succeed. You have more abilities than you ever thought possible." She whispered, her voice echoing around him just as it did in the temple. He wasn't sure what she meant, but he felt more content watching her than finding out.

"Will you watch over me?" He asked, drowning in her eyes.

"Do you deserve it?" She replied, slowly disappearing away.

He woke up suddenly, a slight breeze disturbing the curtains and he wondered if it had really been a dream.

In the morning, he met with the King again, who gave him his first task: to slay the Nemean Lion, a man-eating beast who lured his victims, usually warriors, in his lair by using women it kidnapped, and bring back his skin as a trophy and proof. The irony wasn't lost on Robin, since a lion was the emblem he wore on his skin.

He chose a bow and arrows and a club as his weapons and left the city. It took him half a day of walking to arrive near Nemea. On the road he stopped in Cleonae where he met a young shepherd, David. The man offered to make a sacrifice to the King of Gods to help Robin in his quest, but Robin told him to wait thirty days. If he succeeded, they would make the sacrifice together, if he died, David would make the sacrifice to Robin as a hero.

Then, after several days, Robin was able to track the lion in Nemea and shot several arrows at him, but they seemed to rebound without doing any damage. He followed the lion to its lair, a cave with two entrances. He had the same dream that night, in which the Goddess told him he had abilities even he didn't suspect. He tried to hold on to her, his fascination with her growing with each of her appearances. He wanted her to stay and tell him what she meant.

The next day, it appeared clearly to him what he had to do. He obstructed one of the cave's entrance and entered it through the other. He approached the Lion silently and hit it with his club. As the beast was disoriented, Robin seized it in his arms and choked it. He was marked by the claws but ignored the pain and the Lion struggled less and less. Finally, it was dead, and the rush of adrenaline Robin had felt left him. He panted, falling on his knees, trying to understand how he had been able to do this when the words of the Goddess came back to him. _Abilities even he didn't suspect_, she had said. He shook his head and set to finish his first labour.

Robin tried to skin the creature with a knife, but he was unable to. He heard a small whisper, right in his ear, telling him only the Lion's claws could skin it. He smiled, recognizing the voice, and followed her instructions. He went back to Cleonae, and found David, and together, they sacrificed to the supreme God.

He carried the trophy back to Tiryns and presented it to the King. Leopold was amazed and terrified by Robin's accomplishment and he forbade him entrance to the city. Robin was now to present the proof of his successful labours at the gate and King Leopold would give him his commands through his herald, Sydney.

* * *

Regina Nemesis looked on satisfied as the arrogant King cowered in fear in front of the hero. She was furious with Leopold, as she had learned that just after she had told him about Robin's arrival and what he was to do, the King had received the visit of another Goddess, the Queen of Olympus, Cora Hera. Cora had told Leopold to increase the difficulty of the tasks and to put every hindrance possible in Robin's way so he wouldn't survive.

Regina had thought the other Goddess did it to spite her, it wouldn't be the first time after all. Once before, Regina had favored another mortal, a kind, young man named Daniel, who despite suffering several offences never once had a desire for vengeance. It had fascinated her and she had tested him. He had proven worthy, and as she had been about to reward him, Cora had killed him, saying mortals didn't belong among them. She had then struck Regina leaving a mark on her upper lip and made it impossible for it to heal completely. A reminder, Cora had called it and Regina never forgot.

This time was different though. Regina had overheard a conversation between Cora and Zeus where the Goddess told her husband that Robin was the man the ancient prophecy talked about, the man with the lion tattoo, and if confronted to the full extent of his abilities, he could challenge the Gods themselves. He had to be crushed and fast, she had said. Zeus had scoffed, used to he was to the paranoia of his wife, but he knew better than to try and stop her.

As Robin had presented his first trophy, Regina tried to guess what Cora could possibly reserve as the second assignment.

She soon found out and it should have been obvious to her. The Lernaean Hydra, a monstrosity Cora had raised with the sole purpose of destroying a powerful hero such as Robin, the hero he was slowly becoming.

Regina watched as Robin headed to the swamp near Lake Lerna and its poisonous fumes. He had enlisted the help of a relative, Will who once won in chariot racing at the Olympics.

She watched as they struggled against the Hydra, discovering that destroying one of its heads caused two to burst in its place. She watched as the Hydra seized Robin, preventing him from moving and a large crab appeared to bite at his feet. Robin managed to smash the crab and tried once more to dispose of the Hydra. Regina then whispered to Will that the key was to burn the base of each head just as they were severed to prevent it from growing again.

The two men worked efficiently and soon only remained the ninth head, the immortal one which Robin promptly cut off and buried on the way back to Tiryns.

Regina heard Cora's screams of rage resounding in all of Olympus, and she smiled. A smile that soon fell as Cora, through Leopold, informed Robin that this task couldn't be counted since he had received extensive help from Will.

The next few years became a tug of war between Cora and Regina, as the former tried to find the task that would bring Robin to his knees and end him once and for all, and the latter did everything in her power to keep him alive.

Cora then tried to elicit another Goddesses wrath against Robin by having him capture Ruby Artemis' beloved Ceryneian Hind. He once again succeeded, and as Ruby Artemis appeared to him, he appeased her by explaining he was only capturing the animal as part of his penance, and he would set it free as soon as he showed it to the King.

Regina's pride in Robin grew as Cora's fury did. He captured the Erymanthian Boar and the Cretan Bull, cleaned the Augean stables in a single day, another task which was invalidated, slayed the Stymphalian Birds and the Mares of Diomedes. He obtained the cattle of the monster Geryon, and the belt of Zelena Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, for Leopold's insipid and spoiled daughter.

He stole the apples of the Hesperides, by tricking Atlas, the titan who bore the world's weight on his shoulders, into getting them for him. A wedding gift from Cora to Zeus, there was no way Robin could have retrieved them himself, but Atlas was the father of the Hesperides. Robin took Atlas' burden while the titan fetched the apples and when the titan decided he didn't want to resume his duty, Robin played him and was able to flee with the Apples back to Leopold's city. Regina had been very impressed by this one success more than by any other.

It was finally down to one. One last task.

* * *

Eight years, eleven tasks, two nullified, meaning there was only one left. Robin had travelled all around the world, made faithful friends and mortal enemies. Delivered oppressed people and slaughtered kings, centaurs, giants, beasts of all kind, all in the name of his redemption.

He had so much blood on his hands he wondered if he would ever be able to wash it all off. However, as time passed, he felt less and less the ache of his losses. Marian's face was fading away, he could barely remember the sound of her voice as his thoughts were consumed by another. The Goddess hadn't left him, appearing in his dreams almost every night, and sometimes, more and more so, even in his waking thoughts. He would turn his head and believe she was there.

Being assigned his next labour became more about knowing he would see her again and receive her advice than about redeeming himself. Each time his travels led him near the temple where it all began, he would visit it and talk to her for hours, and sometimes, he would see the shimmer again and know she was there, listening.

He realised after his first task that he was more than a simple mortal in penitence. He had managed to perform physical prowesses unheard of, and coming across several deities, he had been told he had thus incurred Cora Hera's wrath. His abilities to carry out his assignments and the struggle between Cora Hera and Regina Nemesis were the main discussions on Olympus.

It would soon be over though. One last task and he would get to make his choice as she had promised him.

His jaw went slack as the herald told him what his final labour would be. Of all of the things, he had to do this one really was the icing on the cake. To capture and bring before the King, Cerberus, the three headed monstrous dog who guarded Hades. To do so he would have to go in the Underworld and leave it in one piece. No one had ever been able to do it.

During his travels, Robin had heard about priests in Eleusis who could initiate some people to the mysteries of the Underworld and the story of Demeter and her daughter Persephone who was kidnapped by Hades himself. Knowing this could help the initiates find happiness in the Realm of the Dead. Robin hoped it would help him in finding safe passage. After a few tests, he was admitted and received the information he craved. With the help of several deities whose friendship he had won, he was able to find the entrance to Hades.

He met with the God himself and asked him his permission to take Cerberus. Hades gave his ascent as long as Robin was able to defeat it without using any weapons. Robin came face to face with the monster, and for a moment, he thought how easy it would be to just stop here, to stay in the Underworld and find Marian. Regina's face appeared in his mind and he focused on it, drawing strength and resolve. He finally acknowledged that Marian was his past, he had built a full life since her death, what good would it do to give up now, after everything, when he was so close to the end of his penance.

Another rush of adrenaline consumed him as he thought about what his success would mean and he charged towards the beast. He wrestled with it and managed to grasp the three heads and force it to submit.

He brought Cerberus to Leopold and then returned it to the underworld. Once it was done, he fell on his knees, it was over, he had done it, everything that was asked of him and more, he did it. He only had to make one last journey before he could be a free man again.

He went back to her temple and stood in front of her statue. He spoke loudly in the deserted sanctuary.

"I accomplished my ten labours as you commanded. You said it would mean forgiveness and a choice. I am ready to make that choice."

"Are you?" Her voice sent shivers running down his spine, as it always did. He felt as if he was under a spell each time she talked.

"I am." He nodded to emphasize his meaning.

"You have made me proud during all those years, Robin of Plataea. You succeeded beyond my expectations. You can ask for anything, you can be anything on this Earth now. You're a hero for all the world, your story will become a legend told to generations to come. Whatever you wish, I can give to you." The Goddess declared and Robin stifled a smile, wondering if she would expect his request.

"I only wish for one thing," he said and paused, swallowing. "I want to look upon your face, now, here, in this temple."

The silence was deafening and Robin was certain he had insulted her beyond repair and he hung his head in shame and self-loathing.

"That's all you want?" The voice echoed again around him and it sounded oddly choked to him.

"Well, I think it's a rather grand request." He replied.

The shimmer appeared right in front of him and it slowly, painfully so, intensified until he could discern her silhouette properly, until he could discern her features, until each strand of hair was visible to him.

He was blown away by her unparalleled beauty. Even his dreams hadn't done her justice, her very presence radiated and he wanted to lose himself in her gaze.

"What man could look upon such beauty and ever wish to see anything else?" He whispered. "I would give everything to only see you for every day I still have to live."

She cocked her head and seemed to doubt his words. "You don't know what you're saying. Being shackled to the ruthless Goddess of vengeance is not a fate any man should wish."

Robin shook his head. "You gave me a second chance, you protected me during all those years and now you're giving me the chance to be whatever I want. What I want is you, and if I have to go through another eight years of deadly tasks to prove to you I mean it, I will."

She looked stunned, her eyes wide, her lips parted.

"It will not be easy, to do this you will have to give up your mortal flesh. It will be painful and if you can't go through with it, you will die." She murmured as if she didn't wish for him to hear but he did.

"I can take anything."

It was painful, she certainly hadn't lied. He was burning, burning, burning. He couldn't see or hear or feel anything other than the flames consuming him but he was determined to succeed in this as he did in everything else.

At last, it was over and he was lying on soft ground, the lights were blinding him as he slowly opened his eyes. High, white columns all around the room and the pure, blue sky just outside, he knew he was on Olympus.

"Look who has finally woken up." He turned sharply towards her voice. She was sitting on the ground, just beside him, and he raised his hand towards her face. Her skin felt unbelievably soft and her contact sent warmth coursing through his body, soothing any pain, any ache he had left.

He wound his hand in her hair and brought her toward him, making her gasp in surprise. He kissed her like he had never done before, pouring everything he felt for this wonderful Goddess into the action.

"I take it you're not disappointed by your wish being granted?" She whispered against his lips, and he smiled.

"I could never be disappointed when the most marvellous creature granted me immortality to spend with her."

The End

* * *

Thoughts? :)


	3. Prompt: Zip Me

A response to a prompt sent to me on tumblr: leave a "Zip Me" in my ask, and I'll write a drabble about one character dressing another, or the other way around [this can also be used for shutting them up as well, but feel free to specify.]; Smut-ish and unbetaed. I still don't own them

* * *

Regina extricates herself from his tight embrace at an ungodly hour in the morning, and Robin grumbles and tries to hold her back. She still manages to escape to the bathroom for a quick shower, only to reappear in nothing but a towel barely covering her mid tighs. She heads to her chest of drawers to get clean underwear, and he is suddenly much more alert as he watches her getting dressed.

Her form-fitting dresses usually zip in the back and she can't do it all the way so she approaches him and pulls her hair up in a silent request for help. He starts to fasten the dress up until he remembers that it's really early and the boys won't be up for at least half an hour and why on Earth does she need to be ready so soon? So instead of helping as he is supposed to, his lips pepper the skin the dress should cover. She tries to protest but it's weak, and then she angles her head and her hair to give him better access to that particular spot behind her ear that renders her putty in his hands, as he straighten up in the bed, their bed.

His hands caress her arms until they reach her shoulders, he pulls the dress down and it pools at her feet. She turns in his arms, now standing in just her very lacy, very coordinated underwear and he pulls her against him and rolls with her on the bed until she is on her back and he is hovering over her and settling between her legs. She gives him a knowing smile because she always knows exactly what she is doing and the effect she has on him. It's a game that they love to play because they both end up winning.

He kisses her full lips and then gives the same attention to her front as he did her back until she is moaning and arching off the bed from his mouth and tongue's ministrations. Her right hand is tangled in his hair and she tugs them a bit to make him stop and come back up. He kisses her again letting her taste herself, and he swallows a loud moan as he positions himself at her entrance and enters her slowly.

They will both always wonder how they were able to live as long as they did without this connection they're feeling right now and each time they make love. It's more intense than anything they have ever experienced and they can't get enough.

Half an hour later, he finally zips her up, reluctantly so, but at least this time they're both wearing matching satisfied smiles.

* * *

What did you think?


	4. Missing Year Prompt: Thunderstorm

_I was sent this prompt on tumblr: OQ - #21 "**We're in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?**" and here is what happened:_

_Set in the Missing Year, unbetaed, mistakes are mine._

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own OUAT or any of its characters, although I wish I did!_

* * *

Regina was trailing at the rear of the convoy, almost dragging her feet at this point. How had a simple scouting mission turned into this?

The lack of any new appearance from Zelena since the first time Regina had met her a couple months ago had lured them in a false sense of safety. They had organised this mission to ensure the safety of the realm's borders and put in place a regular patrol that would accompany those who wanted to regain their former lands.

Regina, Charming and Robin Hood were satisfied by what they saw, until their little troop of Palace Guards and Merry Men was surprised by the sudden appearance of a dozen flying monkeys. They had swooped down on them and attacked before anyone even realised it.

The fighting that ensued was long and excruciating, and when the last monkey had finally fled, they were all left worn out and in pain. They had lost a man to the beasts and several others were injured more or less severely.

The few horses they had were attributed to the wounded and they made their way back at a much slower pace than during the outward journey.

Regina would never admit it but she was exhausted, and had trouble focusing her energy and her magic. Ever since their return to the Enchanted Forest, her magic had been acting strange, used as it had become to Storybrooke, where things were different. Where everything was different.

Once or twice during the attack, it had almost failed her, and without the intervention of a particular thief as she was trying to form a reticent fireball, things could have turned out much worse for her. She hated the idea that she owed anything to that man.

She vowed that when they were finally back under the protection of the shield she had conjured around the castle, she would train harder to get her control on her magic back. She wouldn't be bested by this Greenie, she couldn't let those people down, those people Henry cared about, she couldn't fail them.

Completely lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed the first few droplets and the darkened sky until the rumbling of thunder sounding way too close, pulled her attention back to her surroundings.

It was the end of a particularly long and warm summer and it wasn't the first time a thunderstorm happened when the hot air of the day gave place to the cooler nights, but given their current situation, this one felt more threatening.

"We need to find cover." Regina heard someone, Charming she thought, yell from the head of the group. They all started to scramble around, trying to determine if taking cover under the trees was a good idea or not with the lighting and the thunder being so close but Regina wasn't moving.

The rain was pouring by now, it felt cool but not freezing, and it brought such a sensation of relief coursing through her as it washed away the blood and the grime from her hair, her face, her clothes.

She had always liked storms, would race on her horse during them as a young girl. It usually ended with a severe punishment from Cora, who couldn't stand to see her drenched to the bones, hair hanging heavily around her face, rosy cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes. Her little puppet princess acting as a tomboy, it was unacceptable and Cora always made sure Regina felt it but it never was enough to make Regina stop.

Standing there, eyes closed, unmoving under the rain, she tried to focus on the sensation and not on the memories. She soon felt a presence right in front of her, and opening her eyes, found herself staring right at a certain outlaw's chest.

"Milady, you can't stay here, we need to find cover until this storm passes." The thief said and she shook her head.

"You do whatever you want, Outlaw, but I'm perfectly okay right where I am." She replied, closing her eyes again, hoping he would get the message.

"You can't be serious, we're in the middle of a thunderstorm and you want to stop and feel the rain? You're going to catch your death here!" He exclaimed and she royally ignored him. "This is complete and utter madness." He muttered.

Before Regina could understand what was happening or even attempt to stop him, Robin had thrown her over his shoulders and was moving fast towards the rest of the group, who had created a makeshift shelter with cloaks and blankets. She screamed at him to put her down and kicked and punched him the whole way but he was unfazed.

The moment he set her down, she punched him hard in the arm where a monkey's claw had nicked him earlier when he had-chivalrously in his mind no doubt- put himself in its path towards her. This time, he grunted in pain.

"The next time you pull off something like that, flying monkeys are going to be the least of your problems, you hear me? Ask the Prince what happens when someone tries to manhandle me." She told Robin in a vicious tone before stepping away from the tent to be under the rain again.

If she was forced to stay in bed for nearly a week when they got back to the castle because a bad cold, and if she had to endure the smirking thief's presence who volunteered to bring her some hot soup Granny threatened to force down her throat, well at least it had been worth it.

* * *

Thoughts? Reviews are a balm to my little shipper/writer heart.


	5. Prompt: Just Once

Thank you so much for the response on yesterday's prompt! Here is another one, the dialogue prompt is "**Just once**."

This is an abandoned plot bunny for a bigger Modern AU fic I harassed my beta with a couple weeks ago. There will be common points with the other fic but this particular aspect won't fit so I decided to share it independently.

Unbetaed, all mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or its characters.

* * *

Regina stirs the few remaining ice cubes at the bottom of her glass before downing the rest of her Jameson whiskey and coke in one go. Whiskey has been an acquired taste for her but tonight she needs the liquid courage, although the coke will help her keep her head clear enough.

She wants to remember every single moment of this last night in the City of Lights before going back stateside. She is quite certain the moment she will land in Boston, her mother will sink her sharp claws and not let her get away again.

The first time was a lucky escape, only made possible by Mr Gold's, her godfather, intervention. There would be no second chances but she can't not go. Her father is dead and his funeral is in less than two days.

Her dear, sweet daddy who protected her for almost four years, sent her money, checked up on her secretly, but who, in one last moment of weakness, one last attempt at reuniting his family, gave her phone number to her mother so he could see his daughter again before the terminal stage of his kidney failure carried him off.

Her mother didn't call her until he was dead however, and Regina shudders as she imagines what her father must have thought in his last moments. The shock of hearing both her mother's voice for the first time in years and the news she had to tell almost caused Regina to faint, only her anger at being told too late kept her afloat.

So here she is, all packed up and trying to enjoy one last night of freedom. She turns on her bar-stool and stares right at _him_. Robin, the leader of the band performing tonight at Connolly's Corner, the Irish Pub in Paris' fifth _arrondissement _she stumbled in two years ago with her roommate Mallory, another American expat.

He and his band had been playing that night too and the moment they finished their little concert, Mallory had almost pounced on the drummer, Will, and turned on the charm. Regina and Robin had both shaken their heads at their friends' antics before Regina had started to blush under the intensity of Robin's gaze. His delightfully accented voice made her shiver and she had been dangerously close to feeling things she was certain had died with Daniel.

Daniel, the stable boy, her first love, the forbidden passion her mother had never understood or condoned. The moment Cora had discovered them, Regina's whole life had spun on its axis. Nothing had ever been the same after that and Regina had lost her last few illusions about her mother's true nature.

Daniel and her had planned to run away and elope, to build a life far away from Cora's toxic presence but fate had decided differently. The night Daniel had driven to her family's mansion to pick her up, a drunk driver crashed into his car, killing him instantly.

Cora forbade Regina from attending the funeral, and thus she was never able to say goodbye, to get closure, to let go.

That's why she had such trouble handling Robin's own bout of flirt. For two years, they have been dancing around and he has been patient, even more so when she finally told him her story, one night, after one too many drinks.

Tonight, it ends though, tonight she is going to let herself be loved like Robin has sworn time and time again he would show her if only she would let him.

Her demons haven't scared him away and it's selfish that she is choosing tonight of all night to start something she will never be able to follow through, but if she is correct about her mother's ambitions, she won't have many happy memories to cling onto in the next few years.

Robin's presence in her life has felt like an oasis and a mirage at the same time. She is calmer when he is near, more open, she smiles more. He keeps the darkness at bay and she wants to bring that sensation with her. More often than not she wonders if it's even real at all.

He is looking at her, he is singing and playing for her and it brings tears to her eyes because she hasn't told him about her imminent departure and she doesn't plan to. He would try to convince her that she doesn't have to let her mother back into her life, he may even want to come with her to support her but she can't let him do that. One look at him and her mother would know and she would do her worst to destroy him just like she destroyed Daniel.

The band's last song for the night is ending and she stands up. Robin meets her in the middle of the pub the moment the applause die down. He barely gets the chance to say "Hello" before she seizes the labels of his jacket and crashes their lips together, trying to pour every ounce of everything she feels for him into this kiss.

She hears the cheers of his band mates and a few other regular patrons and she breaks the kiss with a chuckle, cracking a watery smile.

Something in her expression must convey what she wants because after a moment of intense observation, Robin nods and asks her in a murmur if she wants to get away. Her smile widens a bit and she acquiesces. He leads her out, his arm around her shoulders, bringing her as close to him as he can.

It's not a long walk to his room on the campus of his school of architecture and she enjoys the sights one last time.

Later that night, after he has worshipped every inch of her skin and brought sensations of pleasure and fulfilment like she has never known before, she whispers "Just once, just this once" and he looks up at her with this adorable confused expression of his. She is not sure if he understood what she just said but when morning comes and she is gone, he will.

She refuses to think about his reaction. She can't stand to imagine the broken expression on his face when he crosses path with Mal again and realises she is not coming back. It would break her if she thought he hates her for what she did.

She is acting selfishly but for years to come, the memory of this night will be the only thing that will stop her from ending it all. He makes her feel as if she is worth more than a mere puppet her mother is willing to sold to the highest bidder. He may hate her for leaving without saying goodbye but she will always love him for giving her that night and the two years that came before.

* * *

I feel like I should say I'm sorry. Thoughts?


	6. Missing Year prompt: Nightmares

This one is a much longer prompt than the past couple I posted. I was asked on tumblr for anything Missing Year so here is what I came up with.

All checked and approved by my wonderful beta TBuddah.

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or any of its characters

Enjoy!

* * *

**Nightmares**

A blood-curling scream. That was what made Robin burst into the Queen's rooms at close to midnight during his assigned rounds barely a week after they had taken the Dark Palace back from the Wicked Witch.

He was certain she was being attacked until he realised there was no one else there apart from the two of them. She was thrashing, whimpering on her bed, uttering the word "no" over and over again. Whatever or whoever she was trying to get away from didn't seem to be about to leave her alone anytime soon, and Robin couldn't possibly slip away while she was in such a state.

He did the only thing he could think of and approached the four-poster bed to wake her up. He called her name several times with no response, too far gone in her nightmare. Finally, he touched her, and it worked- too well so. Her hand caught his wrist, sharp nails digging into the offending appendage before her eyes opened widely. They were unfocused, glazed, and she looked terrified. Her breathing was shallow. She didn't seem to be able to get enough air, but as soon as her dark orbs settled on his form she let go of his arm and scooted to the far end of the bed in a panic. Her long hair hid half of her face, and his fingers itched to push the flowing tresses behind her ear if only it could help ground her back in the present.

"Milady, it's only me, Robin. You had a nightmare. It's over. Listen to me, it's over, it was just a bad dream." He wasn't sure if using the kind of words and tone he reserved for reassuring Roland after one of his nightmares was the right thing to do, but at least she seemed to recognize him. "It was a nightmare, nothing is hurting you anymore."

She flinched and looked around the room, eyes lingering on the bed's empty space. "It's not the same room." She muttered, frowning.

"Milady?" Robin asked, confused, uncertain if she had meant for him to hear her words.

She shook her head and turned to him, eyes hardening and lips thinning.

"Who on Earth gave you the right to be in my rooms without my permission?" She asked in a cold voice, and if her hands hadn't been shaking Robin may have bought it.

"I apologize, Milady, for trespassing, but I heard a scream and I thought you were being attacked..." He started before she cut him off.

"It's 'Your Majesty', and clearly you can see that it's not the case so I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone to go back to sleep." She said sharply, and Robin raised his hands and stood up, taking a step back to give her some space.

"I truly am sorry, My Queen. I only wanted to protect you."

She looked troubled for a moment, as if she couldn't wrap her head around his statement. "I don't need your protection. I can take care of myself." She stated defiantly, raising her chin, her eyes flashing.

"I never doubted that, but it doesn't mean you have to do everything on your own." He countered softly.

"That's exactly what it means. Now leave before I make you." The Queen ordered harshly, and Robin knew a lost battle when he saw one.

He nodded, bowed respectfully and walked towards the door, wishing her a goodnight. As he closed the heavy set of double doors behind him, he saw her get up and put on a dressing gown before heading to her balcony. He doubted she would get any more sleep that night.

* * *

His suspicions were confirmed in the morning when he saw her entering the Great Hall for breakfast, wearing more make-up than usual yet not enough to conceal the dark circles under her eyes from his searching ones. After thinking about it, those circles had become more and more pronounced since he came across their group in the forest, after saving the Queen and the Princess from the flying monkey. He wondered if last night had been her first attempt at getting some proper sleep.

Their gaze met briefly before she turned away, lips curling with distaste. He tried not to take it personally. After all, since they met, he seemed to make it a habit to step behind her carefully erected defences. She most certainly wasn't used to it.

Their paths kept crossing that day, between meals and meetings, but he knew better than to try and talk to her. He was sure if he stepped a toe in her personal space, he would be greeted with one of her infamous fireball. He settled for watching her from afar until she left the Hall after dinner to go to bed, or so she told the Princess.

He had a feeling she wouldn't go to her rooms that night, probably trying to avoid a repeat from the night before. He tucked Roland into bed after reading him a story and went to look for the Queen.

He found her under her great apple tree, still in her full regal attire, hair pinned tightly to her head. It hit him only now that last night had been the first time he had ever seen her hair down and how different she had looked then.

He watched over her for a while, hidden from view but able to see her fully as the almost full moon cast some light over the courtyard. At some point, she closed her eyes and some tears rolled down her face. He wondered once more what had happened to this woman, and who she really was behind the myth and all the stories. He had never been one to take what he heard at face value and what he had heard certainly had nothing to do with what he had seen over the past week.

She didn't look much like the Evil Queen of infamous reputation, beyond the clothes and the cutting tone, but rather like a woman whose whole world had crumbled around her. A woman who was trying to pick up the pieces without looking weak and vulnerable in the process. A woman who seemed to bear the weight of years of bad decisions with devastating consequences on shoulders more frail than she wished them to be, and who struggled with the thought that maybe she could have forgiveness and didn't have to put her life on the line to get it.

He didn't know how long he stayed there before she finally stood up and started to head back to the castle. Midway, she froze and turned her head towards him. She sighed and called him out.

"You can stop hiding now."

Robin had no idea what gave him away, but this was her castle, and she knew it better than anyone else. She must have her ways.

"Do you have a death wish? What are you doing here? You're not on duty tonight." She remarked and he smirked a bit at the thought that she knew when he was supposed to do the rounds.

She seemed to read his mind, and her eyes narrowed. "Don't flatter yourself! I'm the Queen, I know everything. Also, Snow whined all evening that she needed company since her Uncharming husband is patrolling with some dwarves."

"I didn't mean to presume, Your Majesty." He replied.

"You don't seem to mean much of anything these days." She countered, one of her brows arching. "You didn't answer my question. Why were you spying on me?"

"I wasn't spying, only making sure you were alright. It's not safe to be on ones own when we don't know what the Wicked Witch is planning." Robin explained calmly.

"So you're still under the illusion that I need your protection?" Her tone was biting, but Robin could have sworn he saw the corners of her mouth lift up slightly.

"One can dream." He replied.

She gave him that troubled look again. "You dream about strange things."

"Like I said yesterday, you don't have to do everything on your own. You're in pain, and I have a feeling you have had very few people in your life to share it with." Robin hazarded, cocking his head to the side, studying her.

"So you want to be my confidant? I barely know you." Regina scoffed, her eyebrows flying up.

"Sometimes it's easier to talk to a stranger." He said as she shook her head, averting her eyes.

"Why do you care so much?" She whispered.

Robin sighed. "I just wish you would see that you have allies here. Even some people who understand what you're going through. I told you about my wife. I know a thing or two about loss, about how it changes you and makes you feel like you will never be whole again. No one should go through that alone."

She studied him for a long while and then started walking towards the castle again, without saying a word. He remained behind dumbfounded.

"Well, what are you waiting for? I thought you were supposed to be my knight in shining armour?" She called back in a caustic tone.

He hurried to catch up with her. "So now you need a protector? Anyone ever told you that you're difficult to follow." He told her, and she smirked.

"What did you expect from the Evil Queen?"

They walked in silence until they arrived at a crossing. He knew both ways led to her quarters from his explorations but one route was shorter than the other. She stopped and hesitated, her eyes looking nervously from one corridor to the other before she headed right, taking the longer path.

As her door closed between them, with barely another word spoken, he wondered what was in that corridor that could provoke such a reaction.

* * *

He got the answer in the morning when he strolled along it after breakfast and found the Princess Snow White standing in a door frame, looking frozen.

He approached her and asked if she was alright.

She nodded. "It looks exactly the same. Nothing has moved, no one has been here since he died." She said, a little shakily.

Robin's eyes widened a little when he understood that they were standing in front of the King's quarters.

"I always wondered why she was always so sad. I thought it was every girl's dream to be Queen. I never understood until recently that this wasn't the life she wanted. She was forced to live it, and she did the best she could with a bad situation. Well, maybe not the best, but she did what she could to get through it." Snow White said, her gaze never leaving the bed where her father had died. She took a deep breath and continued. "My father didn't love her. He still thought about my mother and he couldn't make himself care enough for Regina. I know that now, I see that now. I wish I had been less blind when it mattered. I wish I had helped her." She shook her head, her reverie ending. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this." She added, turning towards him.

Robin used the same line he told Regina the night before. "Sometimes, it's easier to talk to a stranger. And if I may say so, Your Highness, children only ever want to see the best in their parents."

Snow White nodded thoughtfully. "David didn't always understand why I was fighting so hard to get her back. He doesn't know her the way I do. She was so full of life when I met her, so hopeful, even after ... No, that's not my place to talk about. She is the one who told me about true love, you know. I will never forget her words that night, or the expression on her face."

Robin's eyebrows raised at this revelation. The more time he spent around the Queen and her strange family, the more layers he uncovered.

"Yes, she taught me the most important thing I ever learned in my whole life. The one thing I always clung to, even in the darkest moments. I wish I could help her alleviate the pain." The Princess's eyes were shining with tears as she spoke.

"Some people need the pain to cope, to remind them they're alive, that they can still feel. I won't presume the Queen is one of them, I don't know her well enough for that, but I recognize the type." Robin explained.

"You lost someone too, didn't you? Roland's mother?" The Princess asked in a low voice and squeezed his arm comfortingly as Robin nodded. "You two have an awful lot in common." Snow White remarked as she closed the doors to her father's rooms and left.

Robin looked at the closed doors for a while as he recalled the announcement of King Leopold's second wedding and how the people had whispered about the new Queen's beauty and age. Before she was the Evil Queen, she had been the Child Queen. Robin felt the hatred and disgust rise inside him at the thought of what went on behind those doors.

No wonder she had nightmares.

* * *

The next night Robin was abruptly awoken by Roland's own bout of nightmares. Since the attack by the flying monkey and the rumours about the Wicked Witch, Roland's active imagination had been in overdrive to the point that it sometimes troubled his sleep.

As Robin reassured his son and coaxed him back to sleep an idea sprouted in his mind. Roland had been curious about the grand lady who had saved him, but very shy in approaching her when he had learnt she was the Evil Queen. His childhood had been filled with stories about the great and powerful woman who used her magic and her ruthless Black Knights to punish those who protected Snow White or stood in her way.

Even if Robin had explained she had changed, the boy was still wary and hid behind his father's legs each time she was near, clutching the plush toy she had given him to his chest. The irony made Robin smile.

Maybe he could solve two problems at once. He would have to be careful, but he could make it work.

In the days that followed he put himself in the Queen's way more than usual, appearing with Roland during her walks in the gardens, joining her in the library under the pretence of picking new books for bedtime stories, accompanying her on her way to mealtime.

Robin knew Regina had picked up on his boy's hesitancy around her, but he hoped those little encounters would help put them both more at ease with each other. If Roland realised the once Evil Queen was on their side and protecting them from the Wicked Witch, it may soothe his nightmares, and Robin dared to hope that the presence of a child near Regina, even if painful, could distract her a bit. Roland, when at ease, had a unique way of making the lives of people around him brighter.

It took time, but little by little, Robin saw progress.

Roland, who tried to peek at a book Regina was reading while she pretended not to notice but still oriented it just a tiny bit to the side so he could see it better.

Regina, who was picking apples from her tree, stood on her tip toes, complaining out loud that she wasn't tall enough to reach the fruit, and Roland, always eager to help, said that if he sat on his father's shoulders he could do it.

Roland, who shyly offered a beautiful thorn less rose to a lost in her thoughts Queen, startling her a bit with his simple but oh so lovely gift and getting a tearful smile from her as he whispered "Thank you for saving me".

Little things, day after day, and Roland had fewer nightmares, but the circles under the Queen's eyes were still very present, and Robin wondered when she would collapse from exhaustion.

He was racking his brain to find a solution when it was handed to him on a plate. Now that things were more settled at the castle, some people expressed their intentions to regain their former lands and the Prince wanted to organize a reconnaissance mission to see if it was safe enough. He asked for the Merry Men's help since they knew the area in question better than anyone. Robin would have to leave Roland overnight, but he knew just who to trust with the task of tending to his boy, and he wished she would agree.

He shamelessly used his son to get her to say yes. Roland, who had considerably warmed up to Regina, had heard from the Princess Snow White that the Queen told the best bedtime stories, and the boy had been aghast at the thought that someone could do that better than his papa.

The little outlaw approached her to ask if she could read him a story when his father was away so he could compare. Regina's eyebrows flew up as she sent a surprised look Robin's way. He, only shrugged and indicated he didn't have any problem with it.

No one could resist Roland's puppy eyes and dimples. The Queen was no exception.

In the morning, when Robin left with his Men and the Prince, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of Roland's little hand gently grasping one of Regina's as they were seeing the group off.

When he came back, as dawn was breaking two days later, he directly went to Roland's room, and what met his eyes warmed his heart in a way he had rarely felt before. The Queen was lying on the edge of the bed, as if unsure if she was allowed to stay there, but Roland hadn't apparently cared about her qualms since he was resting half on her, half on his bed, with his head raising up and down with each breath Regina took.

They both looked peaceful, and Robin turned around, closed the door with no intention to disturb them.

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A/N: Reviews make my day, I love to hear your thoughts!


	7. Prompt: It's not what it looks like

_A/N: Another dialogue prompt I received on tumblr: #30 "It's not what it looks like..." ._

_Set in a not so distant future, I hope, when Robin is back in Storybrooke for good._

_Disclaimer: I don't OUAT or any of its characters._

* * *

They can't get enough of each other. There has always been a pull between them but since his return to Storybrooke, it seems to have increased tenfold. They're always touching, whether it be holding hands or his arm around her waist or leaning against each other, his front against her back, and that's when they're in public. Loosing physical contact means taking the risk of being separated and that's not happening ever again.

They can't get enough of each other but even this is a bit ridiculous. They are supposed to be having lunch at Granny's with the boys. That's how it started anyway, before the Charmings and Emma arrived and distracted Henry and Roland. As no one was paying attention to them, Robin whispered in her ear and it sent shivers down her spine, warmth pooling in her belly as he was telling her what exactly they could be doing instead of listening to Snow talk about something they could care less about. They slipped away discreetly and headed to the back corridor leading to the B&amp;B.

Here they are now, sharing heated kisses, one of Robin's hands cradling her head, threading his fingers through her dark tresses, the other pushing Regina's skirt up and up over her thighs, caressing her skin. Anyone could walk in and see them but they're too far gone to care.

Regina is leaning against the wall, her right leg around Robin's waist, her foot pressing him even closer to her, letting her feel how much he wants her. His mouth leaves hers and finds her pulse point and she tries to stifle a moan and is more or less successful. He then proceeds to bite lightly down the column of her neck until he reaches her chest.

Just as he presses a kiss to the swell of her right breast, the door swings open and Ruby and her new boyfriend stumble in the corridor, heavily making out. They freeze as they see they're not alone.

"It's not what it looks like..." Both Robin and Ruby exclaim at the same time and Regina snorts in a most unladylike way as she hides her face, pressing it against Robin's neck.

Robin, for his part, is about two seconds away from punching Ruby's boyfriend as he sees his eyes wander over Regina's exposed flesh.

There is an awkward pause, both couples wondering how to get out of this embarrassing situation. Granny solves it for them as she calls out for Ruby from the dinner.

The younger woman sighs and sends Regina and Robin a wink and a teasing smile, letting them know exactly what she thinks they will be doing the moment she leaves. She turns around, dragging her boyfriend behind her and they both walk out.

Robin feels Regina shake against him as she laughs and he joins in after a moment.

"Well, milady, that was a close call. Should we head back to the table?" He asks, pressing his forehead against hers.

"That may be the wise thing to do but I have never been a very wise person," she whispers, kissing him again.

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What did you think? I love to hear your thoughts.


	8. Missing Year prompt: Kiss Me Waterfall

Thank you to everyone who read, favorite, follow and review this story, I'm going to try and find some time to reply tomorrow.

As a reward you get some Missing Year smut!

**Another dialogue prompt I received on tumblr, this one asked for: #13 "Kiss me" + #15 "So I found this waterfall..." + Missing Year.**

Unbetaed, any mistakes are mine**, M-rated.**

Disclaimer: I still don't own OUAT or any of its characters.

Enjoy!

* * *

The Charmings are stalling, choosing to stay the night in the forest when Regina could have easily brought them all back to the Dark Palace with a poof or two. They want to delay the moment when they'll have to inform the rest of the realm of Glinda's revelations and what it means. Another Dark Curse and a sacrifice. Regina can't really blame them.

They have made camp in a hideout the Merry Men used years ago. Robin and Belle prepared it while Regina was trekking the Dark Forest with Snow and David. A simple and undetectable magical shield reinforced the natural protections offered by their environment and the traps still in place from the days the outlaws roamed this land.

The Charmings retired to their tent early and Regina can only guess what they're talking, or more likely arguing, about. In the dead of night, when the sky and her thoughts are the darkest, she wonders if they wouldn't rather sacrifice her heart to cast the Curse and if she could argue with them against it.

When a few months ago, she would have gladly ripped her own heart out or put herself under a sleeping curse, these days the urge to do so is less and less strong. A certain thief and his son wormed their way in and thanks to them she feels a little lighter. Just enough to make life in this goddamn place bearable.

No one knows for sure, some suspect, Snow and Tinkerbell have more than once sent suspicious looks in their direction, but to everyone else Regina can't stand Robin and let it be known, like yesterday, in Rumple's Castle.

It's not often that Regina feels she may have gone too far but this time she wasn't quite able to look Robin in the eyes for a while after spatting her insults at him. He has been quiet since and she wonders if he is beginning to see what he is really getting into. There are days she hopes he does so he will give up before she can let herself believe she can give this a chance.

Suddenly the object of her thoughts is sitting beside her, on the log by the fire she hasn't moved from all night. Dawn is going to break soon, everything is calm and peaceful around them.

He doesn't look mad or angry, on the contrary there is a playful glint in his eyes. She raises her eyebrows at him as he whispers in her ear.

"So, I found this waterfall, it's not far from here. A warm spring, just hidden enough from the main path that no one can stumble upon it accidentally."

"Am I right in guessing you want me to join you in those warm waters?" Regina clarifies, trying to sound indifferent but not quite succeeding.

"You have told me of this wonderful invention from the other world called a shower, this is the closest equivalent I could find. I thought you might appreciate some of the perks the forest can offer." Robin explains, shrugging.

Regina would never admit that she is touched but she is, she really is. She follows him without any hesitation.

A few minutes later, they are shedding their clothes and entering the spring. Regina sighs in relief as the warm water do wonder to her tensed muscles. She immerses herself fully for a moment and her hair weighs a ton when she resurfaces. Robin is observing her, his eyes taking her in hungrily and she walks backward towards the waterfall, smirking.

Soon, they're both under it, bare and exposed for the world to see but Regina doesn't care, she focuses on his hands and his lips, caressing every bit of her skin he can reach. Her back is against his chest, her right hand in his hair while he bites at her collarbone, his left hand fondling one of her breast while his right is slowly making its way south. The muscles in her stomach tense as his fingertips dance over them. She spreads her legs just a little more and she feels him smirk against her shoulder.

"Impatient, are we?" He states more than asks, chuckling, and she wants to give him a smart remark in return but she lets out a loud gasp instead when he finally touches her where she needs it most. He presses his thumb against her clit and one finger slides inside her and then two. He starts a slow rhythm and she rocks her hips and she feels his hard length against the small of her back.

She turns her head to the side and tries to kiss him but he doesn't let her, kissing that spot behind her ear that drives her mad instead and she grunts in frustration.

"Kiss me." She demands but her tone is too breathy and he smirks again.

"You have to ask nicely." He says, brushing his lips against her jaw. She is close to whining at this point.

"Please, kiss me." It's barely a whisper but he hears her and he finally presses his lips against hers and then it's all tongues and teeth clashing a bit and it's not the most comfortable position for her neck but she forgets about that when he adds a third finger. She moans and moans, breaking their kiss to take in some much needed air. He sets a quicker pace with his fingers, his thumb circling her clit and she feels her release building and building.

Her muscles tense, her toes curl and she lets go, her voice breaking as she says his name.

She whimpers when Robin slips his fingers out and she turns around in his arms.

"Are you alright, Milady?" He asks, cupping her cheek and then threading his fingers in her wet hair.

"Alright is one word for it." She replies, smiling. It's her turn to caress his skin, to enjoy the sounds he makes as she scratches a nail lightly over a nipple and the well-defined muscles of his torso and abdomen.

They kiss again as she takes his length in her hand, brushes her thumb against the tip. He stops her after a minute.

"It won't take much now Regina and I want to be inside you when I come." He says, watching her intensely and she nods, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She feels weightless in the water.

He thrusts inside her and they both groan at the sensation of him filling her. He gives her a moment to adjust, and she is the one who starts moving. His hands palm her ass as she rises up and falls back down gently at first and then faster and harder. His mouth is at her breast, teeth biting lightly and his tongue soothing right after.

Regina brings one of her hands from around his neck to her clit and it doesn't take much more for her to go over the edge again. He follows just a few seconds later, finding his release as her muscles grip him tightly.

They stay like this, in each other's arms, panting.

"Bathing in the river is not so bad, is it Milady?"

* * *

**Feedback is always appreciated, should I write more smut or is it a bad idea?**


	9. Missing Year prompt: Tell me a secret

A big thank you to everyone who read, has favourited (is that even a word?), reviewed or is following this story!

Another dialogue prompt from tumblr: **#45 "Tell me a secret" + Missing Year. **Unbetaed, all mistakes are mine.

Usual disclaimer applies: I don't own OUAT or its characters.

* * *

It was supposed to be a simple question, a game for him even his father told her later, but the first time little Roland had asked her that she had frozen.

She had just woken up and had been aware of it for the first time in days. Her fever had finally started to break, the delirium it had caused leaving her confused and tired. Her eyes had felt heavier than ever before as she had lifted them.

For a second, she had thought the face above hers was Henry's, her mind still hanging in that place where dreams and reality mix up, and she had smiled, until the blur had cleared and the crushing disappointment had almost made her cry in distress. It hadn't been her little prince standing beside her bed and dabbing a wet cloth carefully over her brow, no, it had been the little outlaw.

"Roland, what did I tell you? You shouldn't bother the Queen while she is resting." She had heard a whispered scolding coming from the door, and had recognized the voice as Roland's father's.

"But Papa, she was smiling and now she is awake." Roland's attempt at speaking softly hadn't been very successful.

She had been groggy, her throat had felt like it had been scraped with sandpaper and she had barely been able to breathe through her nose. She had sneezed and coughed, her skull throbbing painfully.

"You're probably regretting that you stood under the rain for so long now, don't you Milady?"

The thief had smirked at her, the man who a moment before had been scolding his son for waking her up, had mocked her and... by the gods she had been way too tired for this. It had been his fault anyway, he had manhandled her, had thrown over his shoulder to get cover. She had killed people for less than that but things were different now, she was different. So she had simply ignored him and turned back towards Roland who had been playing with her hair during the little exchange. She hadn't dared to imagine what her hair looked like after several days spent in bed, feverish and sweaty.

Robin had slipped away from the room, to inform The Charmings that she was on the mend. He had instructed his son to watch over her until his return.

That's when it had started. Roland had settled, more like curled up, by her side still playing with her hair and talking nonsense until he had asked her.

"Tell me a secret, please? I am good at keeping secrets." His "please" had been long, all wide inquiring eyes and tentative smile but she had frozen, unable to answer. Her heart had raced as her mind had been invaded by a memory of a time long ago when she had trusted a child with a secret and it had cost her everything. "_What you saw, what I told you, you must keep it a secret._" and Snow had promised but Cora had been too cunning and manipulating for the ten-years old to ever have a chance against her.

Regina had closed her eyes, had tried to stay in the present. Roland wasn't Snow, he was much younger, he had no idea what impact some simple words could have on a person's life. If she had told him her favourite colour, it probably would have been enough for him and the thought had calmed her.

When his father had came back in her bedchambers, he had found them engrossed in a discussion about Christmas in the other world. It had probably been because Henry was so present in her thoughts that Regina had chosen this particular subject. All the Christmases she had celebrated with her son were some of her fondest memories and it hadn't hurt as much to tell Roland about it. She had told him of the old white-bearded man in the red suit who left gifts for every children who had been nice all year and the tradition to leave cookies and milk for him.

The big secret had been that she would keep some of the cookies for herself without Henry knowing. Regina hadn't had quite the heart to tell an amazed Roland that the old man wasn't real. Robin Hood had laughed loudly when his son had told Regina that she was a thief too, a cookie thief and he had been mindful of his desserts in the weeks that followed when she had finally been able to come back and eat in the Great Hall.

Months later, Roland had wanted to celebrate Christmas like in the other world and the Charmings and Regina had exchanged looks that spoke of how much they were thinking about Henry and Emma celebrating, not knowing how much they were being missed.

In the end, no one had been able to resist the little boy and it had proved therapeutic for most of them. Even more than Regina would have expected, especially when she had decided to show Robin why mistletoe had been hanged all around the castle. A lapse in judgement on her part that had seemed to be repeated each time they had found themselves alone under the sprigs. It was therapeutic she had told herself because when she had been kissing the Prince of Thieves, one of his hands in her hair, the other at the small of her back to press her closer and closer to him, it had become a bit easier to remember the good memories with her son rather than the terrible ones from the past couple of years.

How had they gone from throwing insults at each other and him manhandling her to stealing kisses under mistletoe she wasn't quite sure. She didn't want to question it too much because she knew the moment she did she would put a stop to it, she would have to.

"Tell me a secret." Roland had said. She could never tell him or his father the real secret, she could never talk about pixie dust and a choice made long ago and a tattoo which was burned in her eyelids, glaring accusingly at her each time she closed them. She had learned her lesson.

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**You know how much I love hearing from you people. Thoughts?**


	10. Prompt: I swear it was an accident

_A/N: Well, I'm on a roll it seems! Thank you for all the reviews, follows, favorites and to everyone who read those prompts!_

_Part of the dialogue prompts**: #42 "I swear it was an accident."**_

_Set in Storybrooke, in not so distant future, I hope! Unbetaed, all mistakes are mine._

_Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or its characters._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

It was a warm spring day in Storybrooke, one of the first one of the year. One that they could really enjoy, all reunited, without any threat to deal with, any villain to stop. Regina Mills let out a long satisfied sigh as she sat down in the lounging chair in her backyard and opened a book. She couldn't remember the last time she had been able to do that, if she ever had.

She looked over her sunglasses at her boys playing soccer, a sport Henry had recently introduced Robin and Roland to, to their utter delight. She felt it was slightly safer than the archery lessons Robin gave to their sons. Not that she didn't trust him to look after Henry and Roland but she still felt a little squeamish at the idea of them handling potentially mortal weapons.

She smiled as Henry and Robin were exchanging the ball only using their heads, making Roland run from one to the other trying to catch it.

She turned her attention back to her book, shaking her head at their antics.

About an hour passed before Henry approached her.

"Is there anything fresh to drink, Mom?" Her son asked, as he stood in her sun wiping his brow, and she blinked at the sudden change of lighting.

"I made some lemonade earlier, it's in the fridge, honey. Are you guys having fun?" She asked and Henry smiled widely.

"Roland hasn't quite understood the rules yet so it's quite funny to see him run around."

"He is going to be wiped out before long." Regina replied and Henry nodded, chuckling.

"I think that's actually what Robin wants." He disappeared in the kitchen.

Regina put her book down and closed her yes to enjoy the sun for a while. She frowned when she realised, after a moment, that there weren't anymore noise coming from the father and son. She looked right and left and spied Roland around the corner of the house, holding... was that the garden nose?

She approached him and she heard him ask his father, "What is this for Daddy? It looks like a giant snake!" in an excited tone.

"I don't know Roland, but it seems to be connected to this... I think Regina calls it a faucet."

Just when Regina understood what was about to happen, Robin turned the faucet and she shrieked as she was sprayed.

"Turn it off!" She screamed. "Turn it off!" Roland dropped the nose, surprised by the outburst and the water was projected down Regina's body.

Robin finally managed to turn the faucet off, leaving the usually impeccably put together Mayor, dripping wet, her mouth hanging open.

Henry had run back in the garden as he had heard his mother shout and he too looked shocked at the spectacle until he couldn't hold it back anymore and laughed.

Regina looked back at him, raising her eyebrows and he sputtered a "Sorry, mom." before bending over as his laughter started to hurt his ribs.

Regina turned towards Robin again, her lips pinched.

"Milady, I swear it was an accident..." He trailed off and she saw his gaze fall on her chest, letting her notice for the first time that the yellow top she was wearing had become transparent from the water.

Regina scoffed and Robin's eyes snapped back to her face. She arched her eyebrows even more, silently asking if he was really checking her out in front of their sons, and he had the indecency to only smile sheepishly and shrug.

His smile didn't last long however as she suddenly smirked wickedly.

"You're going to pay, Outlaw."

"Regina..." He started but it was too late. With a flick of her hand she was holding the nose, another and she had turned the faucet back on. Robin was drenched in seconds, he advanced towards her, crossing his arms in the air to protect his face.

She took a few steps backwards but he was faster and he took her in his arms, struggling with her for control of the nose and they yelled and laughed. When the boys decided to take sides, they ended up getting caught in the crossfires.

Before long, the whole family was lying on the grass, trying to catch their breath.

"Can we do it again?" Roland asked eagerly, jumping on his father, making him groan.

"We're going to play another game, little man." Regina replied. "Called 'The first one in the bath gets to choose what we're eating tonight.'"

The boy's eyes widened dramatically. "Me, me, me. I want to choose!" He exclaimed, standing up at once and running towards the house.

"Careful, Roland!" Both Robin and Regina called after him.

"I will help him." Henry said, getting up as well.

Regina turned on her side towards her lover. "Well, have you finally learned your lesson, Thief? You can't defy the Queen and win." She declared.

"Oh, is that so? " Robin replied, tugging her to him and rolling them over until she was on her back with him hovering above. She inhaled sharply and his attention was dragged to her chest and the shirt clinging to it. She used his distraction to surround his waist with her legs and turn them again, reversing their position, putting her on top.

"Yes, dear. It is." She leaned down and kissed him deeply. "But I won't mind if you forget this lesson again in the future." She whispered against his lips.

* * *

**Thoughts?**

**Two more prompts left, both will be Missing Year.**


	11. Missing Year: Come over here and make me

A/N: Thank you so much for the lovely reviews, thanks to eveyone who read, favorite and follow this story! I'm so grateful to you all! Are you all alright with some smut as a reward?

Part of the dialogue prompt: **#1 "Come over here and make me."** It's a prequel to Chapter 8: Kiss me+ So I found this waterfall.

**Rated M**

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or its characters.

Enjoy!

* * *

The whole counsel leaves the room not long after Regina storms off. Robin trails behind the group, trying to avoid the Charmings, and especially the Princess' reproachful looks. He can't help but rile up the Queen and he doesn't feel sorry about it. Those people have no idea what Regina and him do behind closed doors and in dark corridors, away from prying eyes. Although some of them have come close to finding out once or twice, which probably explains why he is so frustrated. He winces when he remembers that time, last week, when the Princess and the Prince almost caught them, with Robin on his knees and Regina's skirts hiked up. It is the furthest they have gone together and he hasn't been able to touch her since. It's driving him mad.

Just as he is nearing the end of the corridor a hand grabs his arm and drags him in a nearby room. He protests as he is flung quite violently across the room almost crashing in a table. He is pretty sure he has never set foot in here before but he doesn't get the chance to familiar himself with his surroundings. He turns around and finds himself facing an irate looking Regina.

Robin wonders if she is about to breathe fire, all flushed with anger as she is, arms akimbo, her lips curled in a disdainful expression. He thinks he sees some steam coming out of her ears.

Furious is a euphemism to how Regina is feeling right now and the way he is looking her up and down is only aggravating her more. The thief just spent the entire counsel meeting undermining her and not taking any of her suggestions into account until she couldn't take it anymore and left the room with an angry huff.

She isn't about to let him get away with it.

"You had fun back there, Thief?" Regina asks, her voice dripping with venom.

Robin shrugs. "Fun may be pushing it but you know how I enjoy ruffling your feathers, especially when you're making stupid suggestions." He replies, the corner of his lips rising slightly and Regina knows he is stifling a smirk.

"And who made you the judge of that? It only makes sense..." She snaps but he doesn't let her talk.

"Are you really going to start this debate again? No one wants to hear any more about the various ways you want to fight the Witch and her winged beasts single-handedly. You can't do this on your own, Regina, and more importantly, you don't have to. We all have skills we're willing to put in the balance." Robin counters calmly.

Regina rolls her eyes. "It's ridiculous to risk so many lives when one can do the job."

"Of course, because we can spare you, no one would miss you if the worst happened." Robin tries to keep his tone light and almost mocking but there is still a hard edge to his words, letting her know how ludicrous he finds the notion.

"Do you ever know when to shut up?" Regina barks.

"Well come over here and make me. You have wanted to during the whole meeting." Robin grins before gasping in surprise as he is pushed against the wall with Regina suddenly standing right in front of him.

She seizes his chin in a tight grasp. "Is this really what you want, Thief?" She asks, her tone low and dangerously seductive.

"Back to that, are we?" Robin inquires, his eyes falling on her red, full lips. "I thought we had moved on from that when I had my mouth and fingers..." The Queen puts her hand over his mouth to prevent him from finishing his sentence.

"No talking." She whispers against his mouth before kissing him aggressively. She releases the force holding him against the wall, and in an instant he encircles her waist with one arm and brings his other hand up in her dark tresses to free them from the high ponytail she styled them in.

Regina thinks she feels her skin burn despite her clothes where the tattoo of his right arm touches her. She tries to ignore the treacherous path her mind wants to lead her down to.

He is a distraction, nothing more, the tattoo doesn't mean anything, it can't mean anything. She presses herself harder against him, her hand tangling in his own short hair, nails digging in his scalp.

Robin can taste the desperation in her kiss and he wonders, not for the first time, what dark thoughts swirl in her mind. He gathers her in his arms, never breaking their kiss, moving towards the table clumsily.

At the last moment though, she spins them around and shoves him on the table until he is laying on it.

"Not so fast, Thief." Regina emphasizes the moniker maliciously. "This happens on my terms."

With a flick of her hand his boots and trousers are on the floor.

"Eager, are we?" She says, giving him a crooked grin as his erection stands proudly.

He only shrugs as if to say "Can you blame me?" before frowning as the table creaks a bit.

"Are you sure that this table..." The rest of his question is lost in a groan when she wraps her small hand around his shaft and starts to pump him up and down a few times until he is rock hard.

"I seem to remember that I said 'no talking'." Regina smirks. She flicks her hand again to make her dress disappear and she enjoys the way his mouth gaps as he takes her in, raking his eyes over her figure hungrily. Another flick to lock the door to make sure they don't get interrupted again and she climbs on the table and settles over his thighs.

Robin immediately starts to caress her legs, but before he can reach the inside of her thighs, his Queen seizes his arms and brings them over his head.

"I said on my terms, Outlaw, and that also means no touching for you." She whispers in his ear, sending a shiver down his spine when her breasts brush against his chest, but still his brow furrows because there is no way she can be wet enough. She doesn't seem to care as she raises herself up and slides down on his length.

She closes her eyes and breathes sharply at the sudden fullness and she takes a moment to adjust, it's been a while for her and even if their banter and intense kiss made her slick, it's not enough. The discomfort subdues and she sets a fast pace with every intention for this to only be a quick, hard fuck where she is in control. Their pleasured moans, the sound of their flesh slapping against one another and the creaks of the table echo in the room.

Robin meets her up thrust for thrust and she is now holding his arms with only one hand, using the other to circle her clit. He burns to be able to touch her himself and he struggles against her grip but she is stronger than she looks.

She moves more erratically and moans louder as she nears orgasm. The heat starts from the tips of her toes, her muscles tense and spasm and she cries out as she climaxes, bringing Robin over the edge with her. She slumps forward on his chest, spent, and lets go of his arms.

Robin immediately wraps them around her, panting against her ear and thinking that it was worth the wait. He is about to voice the thought when the table gives an even more ominous creak and its leg break under them. He braces himself against the shock, tightening his embrace, hoping to cushion the impact for Regina but it never happens. They land smoothly and it's one of the few times he is grateful for her magic.

"Should we leave the table like this and let everyone wonder what caused its destruction?" Regina asks, grinning widely and Robin laughs. She may try to pretend that its nothing more than scratching an itch but he knows better, he is worming his way past her defences and one day she will stop trying to push him away.

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**Don't forget to share your thoughts, I love hearing them!**


	12. Prompt: You need to wake up

**A/N: **As always thank you so much for reading, favouriting, following and especially for reviewing! It means a lot guys!

Another dialogue prompt from tumblr _**#20. "You need to wake up because I can't do this without you." **_

Angst warning I guess. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own OUAT or any of its characters.

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Robin is standing there, waiting for something, anything to happen. He knows he is in the right place, he memorized the road when he left with Roland and Marian. Every tree on the side, every crevice in the road, he absorbed it all, both so he could come back and to distract himself from the heart wrenching pain of leaving _her_ behind.

They had walked and walked and followed every instructions Regina had given them. The further they had gotten from the line, the more Robin had realised something wasn't quite right. At first, he had thought his heart was beating strangely and he had wondered if the old sayings were true, if a heart could truly be broken.

Until he had understood that it wasn't just his heart he was feeling, it was _hers_ too. How he had come to that conclusion he has no idea, but he is convinced it's the truth. It's strange, she had told him there was no magic beyond the town line and yet...

It had taken some time to get used to this sensation, to this connection, but he had ceased to question it when he had become able to discern her moods through the changes in her heartbeat. He is now able to tell when she is awake or sleeping, when she is calm or angry, and most of all he can tell when she is crying. That one is the worst because he can picture her, with tears running down her face, her breathing shallow, struggling to get enough air, and it hurts more than anything else has ever before, especially when he knows there is absolutely nothing he can do to make it better.

It plagues his every thoughts and dreams, and there are days, when he is struggling to be the man and father Marian and Roland need him to be, where he curses this tie. On most days though he feels like he couldn't breathe if it stopped.

Weeks of a sweet torture, but lately there is something different, a growing sentiment of anguish that torment him. Last night, he suddenly woke up from his dream of a warm embrace, tangled limbs, soft skin under his eager lips and dark hair weaving through his fingers, when a sensation of panic invaded him. _She was in danger _was his first thought and he needed to act.

It is irrational, he has no idea how to cross back the line into Storybrooke, it is supposed to be impossible but he couldn't stay here and do nothing. He had roused Marian and told her he was leaving, that he would be back as soon as possible, that he would call them, but he had to do it.

He has been standing here for hours now, the panic only intensifying as time goes by. Without any warning, a wave of energy sends the barrier crumbling like broken glass and Robin can finally see the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign. He doesn't hesitate and starts running.

He doesn't stop until he has reached the main street and what he sees causes his heart to stop. _No, no, no_, is the only word his mind can come up with as he closes the distance separating him from _her_. He is vaguely aware of the surprised gasps at his appearance but he only has eyes for Regina, laying on the ground, pale and still, too still. Emma Swan is by her side, two fingers at her pulse but he isn't sure that it is very efficient given how much her hands are shaking. There is blood on them but it's not hers. There are stains on Regina's clothes and Robin feels cold all of a sudden because he realises he can't feel the connection to Regina's heart anymore and he doesn't know if it's because they are finally reunited or if... No, there is no alternative, there can't be.

The next few hours are blurry, the only clear thing is her face from which he can't take his eyes off until he has to, when the doctor and nurses take her away from him to examine her.

He doesn't know how long it takes, Emma Swan and Snow White and her husband are all around him and saying words he doesn't hear and can't process. He thinks they ask him questions but he doesn't answer, he only stares blankly at the door behind which his soulmate is being treated. He thinks he should care about what happened, what led to this and who is responsible but it would take an energy he doesn't have. Henry joins them at some point and he and Robin exchange a look, the same lost and terrified expression on their faces, the same thoughts of _what if_ whirling in their minds.

Eventually, the doctor comes back bearing news and there are more words which don't really make much sense to Robin. The other man talks of extensive injuries caused by magic and Regina and Emma trying to heal them but it was too much, too fast and her body reacted badly. A clot left her heart and went to her brain, obstructing vessels in the area responsible for the speech. They were able to act quickly enough to dissolve the clot but there will most certainly be damages done. Only time will tell.

Robin makes Whale repeat three times before any of it begins to stick. He is allowed in her room after being given more instructions and sterile scrubs. Tears form in his eyes at the sight that greets him. She looks so small in the hospital bed, with all the tubes connected to her, helping her breathe, bringing fluids, bringing life and it's overwhelming and so so wrong.

She is as white as the sheets she is lying on, her usually red and full lips have lost their colours. She is a force of nature, a force to be reckoned with and so many tried to bring her down but she never let them. It's not right that it's her own body that turned against her.

He sits by her side and lets the tears fall and the words come easily, they always come easily when he is with her. "You have to be alright, you have to make it, there is no other options. I had to go out of town because there was no other way and it was excruciating but at least I knew you were fine." He pauses and cocks his head, sniffling. "Well, mostly. I knew that you were alive and healthy. I don't know if you felt it too, I don't really know how this works, but our hearts were linked all this time and I'm not sure how I am supposed to go back or even go on if I can't feel your heart beating alongside mine. It's selfish, you deserve so much more, but Regina you need to wake up because I can't do this without you. The curse on the town line no longer exists but does it change things? You're usually the one with the answers and I love that about you, how you're always ahead of all of us and we can only try and struggle to keep up."

He talks to her for hours, until his throat is dry and raspy. Henry, Emma, Snow, they all relay at her side but he never leaves. They try to tell him to go for a while, to get some rest, get his bearings back but he refuses every time. He is physically unable to.

When finally Regina blinks her dark eyes open, Robin is close to weeping with joy. It doesn't last for long though because it soon becomes obvious that even if she recognizes him, saying his name is a struggle and he understands what the Doctor meant. She tries to speak again and starts to panic when it doesn't work.

They are told that the words are there, on the tip of her tongue, but her brain can't properly manage them, they jumble together, one taking another's place and it kills Robin to see Regina like this. She is frustrated, easily tired, and in the weeks and months that follow, there are a lot of tears and screams and slammed doors. Robin is conflicted with what to do about Roland and Marian and he can't burden Regina with this. She needs him, and no matter what the rest of her family says, he knows Regina can't stand to have them too close. Not when she can't properly tell Snow to shut up and stop with her hope speeches while smirking about it, not when she can't properly quip back at Charming or send scathing nicknames in the Pirate's direction. It's with Henry that it's the hardest but the boy is every bit as resilient as his mother and, just like Robin, he knows when to push and when to leave her alone.

It's tough, it's agony, it's hell, Regina had always been able to rely on her way with words, she was a master manipulator, she learned from the best and now she has to start learning all over again from the simplest to the most complex word and her head hurts. Sometimes she wants to give up but Robin doesn't let her. A look, a smile, a touch and he coaxes her into taking a break and try again later. It's a long and slow process but Regina is a stubborn fighter and he knows she can do it.

A year later and she has improved beyond expectations, and when he comes back from dropping Roland at Marian's place in the nearest city out of Storybrooke, Robin finds her reading a book with Henry, out loud, with almost no glitches and they both look at her with proud smiles.

"I couldn't do this without you." She tells them, her eyes flicking to Robin, a twinkle of something present there. _She heard him_, he thinks, _somehow she did_. They fight together, side by side, hand in hand, because they know how stronger, how better they are together and when Regina's words fail her she knows she can always trust Robin to speak for her.

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**What did you think? You know I love to hear from you.**


	13. Missing Year prompt: Cracking a smile

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the response on the previous prompt, it means a lot! I love hearing your thoughts!

This is the last of the dialogue prompt from Tumblr:** #40 "Have I entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile at me?", **I coupled it with a request I got here for** Drunk!OQ in the Missing Year. **Sequel to chapter 6**: Nightmares**

Unbetaed, all mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy!

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Regina had missed Roland's bedtime story telling and Robin was worried. It had become a sort of ritual ever since Robin had left his son in hercare while he had to go on a mission overnight. They alternated reading to him and tonight had been her turn, she had never failed to show up before.

His brilliant plan to get child and Queen closer had worked amazingly well and the two were now as thick as thieves, no pun intended. However, it had backfired spectacularly on him. Any progress he had made with Regina seemed to have been erased as she welcomed Roland in her heart, as if she couldn't allow herself to have more than one person close. Even after all his efforts to help her she had continuously pulled away from him.

The ten feet high wall around her had been carefully rebuilt and each of her rare smiles, laughs and touches were reserved only to his son. Robin felt jealous, which was absolutely ridiculous and childish but he couldn't help himself. It had made him realise just how deep his feelings for the Queen ran, and since Roland was very possessive of "his Majesty", it seemed the two were now battling for her affections. As if Robin had any chance against the cute, dimpled toddler who had melted the hearts of his father's toughest Merry Men.

Yes, the outlaw felt envious and he wanted to be part of his son and the Queen's adventures instead of being the third wheel. He wanted this and so much more... but of course he wouldn't reveal the sometimes very inappropriate thoughts he harboured for the fascinating monarch. He wanted to be able to uncover all those layers she was wrapped up into, every single one of them.

In order to do that tough, he had to find her. Roland had been very disappointed at her absence tonight and had all but ordered his father to make sure his Majesty was alright. Robin had put Little John in charge and had gone to check Regina's usual hideouts, from her chambers to the library to that high tower with an open platform she would go to during a storm- to his utter bewilderment- to no avail.

She wasn't in the castle, of that he was certain. He went to the stables and noticed at once the absence of her favoured horse. Sighing, he saddled a chestnut mare he had already ridden a couple times and walked her to the camp some of his Men had established just outside the palace.

Much welcomed him, curiosity written all over his face at his leader's presence at this time of night and his eyebrows flew up in surprise as Robin asked him if any of them had seen the Queen.

"The Queen? She rode past us at full gallop a couple hours ago. I think it was her anyway, hard to tell when she was covered head to toes by a black hooded cloak. It was her stallion for sure, and since she is the only one who mounts that beast, I assumed..."

Robin nodded. "Yes, I understand. Do you know where she was headed?"

"Well, she certainly didn't stop long enough to tell us, as if that woman would concern herself with that..." Much stopped himself as he caught Robin's darkening expression and bit his tongue, he should know better than to criticize the Queen in front of Robin when he knew how touchy the man could be on the subject. "I mean, she didn't say where she was going but she seemed to be riding towards the village." Much rephrased and Robin frowned.

"What could she possibly have to do in the village this late?" He wondered out loud.

Much shrugged. "Dunno, there isn't much to see in the village at this hour apart from the tavern but I can't really imagine her there, sitting with all the peasants." The man said, laughing at his own remark.

Robin ignored him, simply thanking him, and leaving Much behind to gape at him as he got on his own horse and set off in the darkness, the clatter of his hooves disrupting the silence of the night.

It didn't take the outlaw long to reach the village, and even less time to spot the huge black stallion Regina had been the only one able to break in. He attached his mare next to it and entered the tavern.

The place was crowded and he was saluted by many people, more or less warmly. He tried to discreetly locate her, he didn't want to start a riot by attracting attention to the fact that the "Evil Queen" was here. He approached the bartender, a man he thought he had seen among the company who had come back from this Storybrooke town. The other man seemed to recognize Robin and a small smile of relief appeared on his face. He inclined his head and nodded towards a corner of the establishment, right next to the back door.

A hooded figure cloaked in black was sitting there, head bent, their face hidden from all angles but Robin knew, he just knew it was her. He ordered some ale and made his way to the table silently. He sat in front of her, not saying a word until she finally acknowledged him. The moment he set eyes on her face he instantly knew the empty pint she was clutching wasn't the first one she had finished, far from it.

The Queen's eyes were glazed, slow to focus their attention on him, if her slow blinks were anything to go by. Soon, a lazy smirk formed on her full lips, from which the once carefully applied red paint had smeared. Robin was definitely not expecting this reaction to his presence and voiced it.

"Have I entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile at me?" He asked and her smirk only widened into a grin as she talked for the first time that night. Well, maybe talk wasn't the right word for it, Robin amended in his mind. This had definitely nothing to do with the usual way Regina spoke.

"Myyy kniiight... in shininnnng armour. I should h-h-have known you would... come... and look for me." Regina slurred and Robin winced as her high pitched voice caused some of the closest patrons to look at them. He threw them sharp looks until they went back to their business.

"Milady, maybe it would be a good idea to leave now before anyone realizes the Queen decided to grace the common mob with her presence. If you truly want to become inebriated, or even more so than you already are, might as well do it safely behind the walls of your castle." Robin said in a low voice and Regina snorted in a decidedly unladylike manner.

"With that... liiittle snooowflaaake... watching over me... every hour of the day? No, no, noooo, don't think sooo." She chanted and then snickered. "Why do you think I came here?" She punctuated her sentence by jabbing one of her fingers repeatedly in his shoulder until he caught her hand in his, linked their fingers and brought their joined hands back to the table.

"Milady, I don't think you understand, I've got a very disappointed and sulking four-years old back at the castle, who all but threw a tantrum when you didn't show up to read him a story. I'm on strict orders to bring you back safe and sound." Robin explained, bending a little towards her, trying to catch her eyes which were fixed on their hands, a strange expression on her face.

She seemed to deflate as his words registered in her clouded mind. She bit her lip, raised her head and her voice was much softer when she spoke again.

"I can't leave now... Nooo, no, not yet. I have to stay until I'm aaaallll done." Regina said, shaking her head.

Robin frowned, her words not making much sense to him. He was about to inquire more when a waitress placed another pint in front of her. He stopped her from taking it and asked.

"How many of those have you already had?"

Regina stared intensely at him for a bit, looking for any sign that he judged her and finding none, only concern.

"Ten, with this one." She answered quietly, still studying him and Robin tried to school his expression as much as he could, not letting his surprise show.

"How many more do you plan to have?" He wanted to know.

"As many as there are candles on Henry's birthday cake." She muttered, taking a healthy swig from the mug as Robin let go of it.

"Today was..." He started but she cut him off.

"Yesterday... but my darling stepdaughter had made me swear not to do anything drastic. She wanted me to _talk_ to her instead." She all but spat the last sentence, her eyes lost in the content of her tankard. "I never promised anything about today." She added, before downing the rest of her ale in one gulp, a droplet or two falling from the corner of her mouth. Robin caught them with his thumb without thinking after she put the drink back down. The contact startled Regina and she froze on her chair, her wide eyes searching his.

They stayed unmoving for several moments, eyes locked, barely breathing until Robin brought his thumb to his mouth to lick it. Regina's eyes grew impossibly larger as she followed the movement and the outlaw stifled a smirk at the idea that he had unsettled the all and mighty Queen with this simple gesture, but then she was drunk and staying focused seemed to become a real challenge for her.

"Alright." He said and nodded at the passing waitress, pointing out at the empty tankard.

Regina cocked her head. "You are... not going to... try and stop me." She enunciated, trying to control the more and more prominent slur of her speech.

Robin shook his head. "I would be very hypocrite to do so, considering what I did after my wife's death. I can understand the need to spend one evening drinking the sorrow away, and at least now I can make sure you will make it back in one piece."

Regina blinked, amazed. "And you... will nooot... tattle to the Uncharmings... the first chance... you get?"

Robin was impressed at her efforts to sound her usual self but he was too acquainted with her sharp and quick tongue to be fooled.

"Why on Earth would I do that? You are a grown woman, they are not your keepers." He replied.

She snorted again. "Tell them... that. They did... not get... the memo."

Robin smiled in response, an intoxicated Regina was quite entertaining and much easier to approach than her sober version, he thought.

He grew serious as he pondered his next question. It could be a deal breaker but he felt that she needed it. "Can you tell me about him? Your son?"

She avoided his gaze, bowing her head, as she thought about whether or not she was going to reply, but in the end she did. Slowly and painfully, she recounted each and every one of Henry's birthdays until the last two. Last year's and getting him a present she never had the chance to give him because they were kept apart and everything was a mess, and yesterday's when it wasn't even a possibility. She had tried to imagine what he did with Emma but the attempt had only brought tears to her eyes and made her choke down sobs.

As her trip down memory lane ended, she had also finished her last pint and Robin coaxed her into leaving the tavern. He indicated to the innkeeper that they were leaving through the back door. He would rather have them make their way back to the horses from outside than take the risk that Regina stumbled in the tavern and revealed herself in her current state. It was already something of a miracle that she was still able to stand at all, he didn't know how long that would last.

Some of her grim mood seemed to have lifted, although he wasn't sure if it was due to their talk or to the amount of alcohol coursing through her system. She tripped over her own feet several times and giggled as Robin caught her in his arms. Her hands lingered on his chest and a playful grin appeared on her face, which he found rather dangerous.

"You keep yourself in sheap, Thief. Shape, shape." She corrected herself, rolling her eyes and giggling again. Robin inhaled sharply at her closeness, this woman had been invading his thoughts in various ways since they met but this was definitely not how he wanted things to go.

"Milady, I really think we should head back now. It is very late and I wouldn't want us to linger here any longer." He said, grabbing her wandering hands but she only pressed herself against him.

"Worried that you will not be able to control yourself?" She whispered seductively, with her lips against his jaw. Robin shivered and closed his eyes, breathing her in, her usual perfume mixing with the strong effluvia of alcohol.

"Yes, I am worried and I am not ashamed to say it. I would like nothing more than for this to go further but I will not take advantage of you while you're drunk and grieving." He declared, seizing her arms and making her turn around.

"You're no fun, and too noble for a thief." She pouted.

Robin chuckled. "You, on the other end, are quite amusing when you're under influence."

They managed to join the horses and Robin hesitated as to what to do next. He didn't trust Regina not to fall off her horse if she rode on her own, but her stallion was quite difficult around anyone other than the Queen. She solved his dilemma as she rather clumsily mounted on the beast, he was about to do the same with his mare when she slid perilously to the side. He stopped her from falling, grabbing the reins as the horse neighed agitatedly.

"Oops." Regina exclaimed as she clutched his shoulder.

He managed to calm down the horse and decided to ride behind Regina, while holding the reins of the more docile mare.

They travelled back towards the castle at a slow pace and it was torture for Robin as the Queen decided to taunt him by rubbing her behind against his front. His cock rose to attention- despite his best efforts to think about anything else than the mischievous creature in front of him- drawing a low, throaty moan from Regina. She took one of the hands he had lightly laid on her hips and started an exploration of her own body until he imprisoned both her arms with his.

"You're the Devil." He whispered in her ear.

"Just "Evil", dear, just evil." She replied, turning her head, their mouths just a few millimetres apart.

Robin straightened and put some more distance between them. She scoffed at him.

When they finally arrived at the camp outside the Dark Palace, most of his men were asleep, just two remained on duty and they were wise enough not to comment on the fact that Robin and the Queen were standing very close to each other, with her leaning heavily on him, and only offered to take care of the horses.

Robin led Regina to her chambers. She attempted to take off her cloak but he had to help her. She gave him a coy smile, and as she sat on the bed she brought him down with her. Robin barely had enough time to put his arms on the sides of her head in order not to crush her. She locked her legs around his hips and he groaned at the sensation. He forced himself to pull away and her face fall at what she took as a rejection.

"Regina, if I was certain you would not throw me over your balcony in the morning, after finding me in your bed, with barely any recollection of what happened, I would happily stay. If you still want me here when you're sober, then believe me, I will be delighted to. Until then, I think it's better if you rest, you will be nursing one hell of a hungover in a few hours." He explained softly, cradling her face, not letting her avoid his gaze.

"It seems easier like this." She said weakly, her voice small, her bottom lip jutting out.

"I'm sure it does. If you think this is an easy thing for me to do, then you are thoroughly mistaken. I have dreamed of this for weeks now, but as I said earlier, I will not take advantage." He pressed his lips against her brow, allowing himself one last caress over her cheek before tucking her in.

She grabbed his hand as he was stepping away. "Thank you." She said, as she tried to struggle to keep her heavy eyelids open, and the intensity behind her words pulled at his heart.

"Sleep, my Queen." He replied softly, not letting go until she closed her eyes and her breathing slowed. He put her hand carefully on the bed and found a bucket that he placed on the floor just beside her. He filled a glass of water and set it on the night stand.

With a last lingering look, he closed the doors carefully and made his way to Granny's room. He would feel better if someone was watching over Regina and he trusted the old wolf to do it without questions. Just as he expected, the woman listened to what he had to say, not asking for any details, she had known the significance of yesterday and had probably thought something like this was bound to happen. They parted and Robin headed to his son's room and found him curled up around the plush monkey.

"She is safe, my boy, and she will make it up to you." Robin whispered in Roland's ear and he smiled slightly, tightening his embrace on the toy.

The Queen didn't appear at all the next day and the Princess told Robin she had refused to see anyone and sounded strange but none the worse for wear.

In the days that followed, Regina was back to her usual self, at least to most it appeared that way, but Robin noticed that some of her harshness towards him was gone. She was never as forward as she had been that night but they now formed with Roland a nice little trio that felt strangely like a family. Only a trip to Storybrooke and missing memories would allow their relationship to fully blossom.

Even if they never talked about that night again, it was the foundation for Regina's unwavering and subconscious trust in Robin because she knew that he was unable to use and abuse her as so many had done before.

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**What did you think?**


	14. Just One More Time

A/N: Well it's been a while but i'm back! This one is a sequel for chapter 5 "Just Once", a modern OQ AU I published a while ago. Many, many thanks to Lolymoon who betaed this for me. And as usual thank you to everyone who read, favourite, follow this story and take the time to leave a review! Love you guys!

The last part of this is M-rated. Usual disclaimer applies.

Enjoy!

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**Just One More Time**"

Nobody barges into the office of Regina Mills, formerly Blanchard, CEO of Blanchard Industries, without facing serious consequences, and most probably a very painful death. Nobody, ever, except for Mallory Cent, who has most certainly been raised by wolves or dragons, and never learned the most basic etiquette.

"We're going out tonight," the tall blonde announces. The intrusion and the loud clatter of the door hitting the wall is so unexpected that Regina actually jumps, her friend's words not quite registering.

"What?" Regina asks, gaping a little at the woman strutting towards her.

"We are going out tonight," Mal repeats, enunciating every word slowly and clearly.

"You know you can't just burst in here and make me go out. What about Henry? I'm guessing wherever you're taking us isn't children friendly?" Regina replies, rolling her eyes.

"Already took care of it. I arranged everything with little Miss Tink as she was trying to stop me from coming in here. You've got a babysitter for my favourite little brat and I know you have no fancy party to attend, so you're all mine." The blonde whispers the last part, leaning over the massive desk, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Regina sighs, knowing there is no stopping her headstrong friend now that she doesn't have any excuse left. "Can I at least know where we're going or is this another one of your secret operations to get me laid?"

Mal's sudden, strange smirk makes Regina uneasy.

"We're going to a pub, for good old times' sake. I heard about a band performing there. They're pretty great it seems. Maybe you know about them?" She says, laying a poster in front of Regina.

The moment Regina sees the name of the band and the faces on the picture, she feels the colours draining from her face and she is glad she is already sitting down. She knew _he _was in town but she hadn't expected that Mal would.

She has kept tabs on Robin for years now. She knows he graduated from his architecture school but never actually worked in that field, choosing to focus on his band instead, and managed in just a few short years to go from playing in local clubs to national fame in his homeland, and then became an international success after the release of their second album. They still like to perform in pubs and small clubs where they can be closer to their audience though, despite their ability to fill the biggest concert halls.

She has a box under her bed filled with CDs, articles, posters and tickets to concerts she never could bring herself to go to. This box she kept at the very back of her closet when her husband was alive, was one of the only thing she took when she moved out of the Blanchard brownstone to her own penthouse in a more modern building. She managed to get control of everything else, not that her stepdaughter fought her too much on it, the least she could do was to leave to Mary Margaret the house she grew up in.

That box and all the papers related to the adoption process they had started a few months before Leopold's death were and still are the only possessions she cares about. Her past and the future she wanted to build for herself, all able to fit in her arms as she took one last look at the place where for four years she was nothing more than a trophy wife, dusted and showed off when need be, forgotten and neglected the rest of the time. Cora had treated her orchids better than Leopold had his own second wife, she had never let any of them wither away.

There was one thing her now dead husband had contributed to that she couldn't resent him for. He had wanted an heir for his company, a boy he could mould into a businessman who would take over after him, since it was obvious that his daughter had no interest for Leopold's life work. He hadn't realised there was already someone ready to do the job, someone who had spent years sitting at tables surrounded by all kinds of sharks, ignored and invisible, and had absorbed everything they had to say.

Leopold had wanted a son but Regina could never bring herself to carry his child. So they had turned towards adoption. However, years of alcohol abuse caught up with him just before they got the call telling them a baby boy needed a family. A small intercession from Regina's godfather, Mr Gold, insured that the process would not stop with her husband's death and Regina was able to welcome in her arms and her heart, a three weeks old baby that she named Henry as an homage to her father. He has been her whole world ever since but she never forgot the young man who had managed to glue back together the pieces of her broken heart all those years ago when she had tried to build herself a life in Paris.

She isn't sure if it's a good idea to see him again though. While she keeps only fond and happy memories of their time together in France, he probably doesn't feel the same, not after the way she left him, without a word or an explanation. Why would he want to have anything to do with her after that? He moved on, got married, had a child, got divorced. All of this in less than two years. He has other priorities now, there is no place in his life for her.

"Regina?" Mal calls out softly, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Maybe it's time for you to stop questioning everything to death and just live your life."

"That's what I did the first time and look where we are now! This isn't a good idea, Mal. I left him behind and I never said anything, I never called him or..." Regina starts, her voice growing louder as she tries to get her friend to understand.

"I did." Mal interrupts her and Regina stares at her questioningly, eyebrows raising in surprise. "After you left, he came to me and asked me where you were and what had happened to you. I told him about your father being dead and that your mother was a controlling bitch who wouldn't let you get away again, that she had big plans for you which didn't include a young wannabe architect with no fortune. He was devastated, even more so when we saw an article a few months later about your wedding to that old creep. So he knows, and the fact that he tried to move on and it didn't work out, just like you did, tells me that maybe there is still a chance there. So tonight we're going to that pub, we will have a good time and get you buzzed enough so that when you go backstage after their concert you won't have cold feet. Do we have a deal?"

Regina can only nod dumbly after this rant.

"Very well then, I'll pick you up at 9." Mallory indicates, before turning around and heading towards the entrance. "Oh and that little red number you call a dress but I call an invitation to sin would probably be a good bet. Just saying," she adds, smirking as she closes the door.

* * *

Needless to say, Regina doesn't get much work done. She decides to leave early, treats her secretary to lunch to thank her for agreeing to babysit and goes to pick up Henry from pre-school.

Hours later, she is standing in front of her full length mirror, in the red dress Mal mentioned, trying to decide if she will really wear it or not.

"You look fantastic, Boss." Tina Bell, Tink as she likes to be called, tells her from her observation point, leaning against the door frame.

"You're in my home to babysit my son, dear. I think that means you can call me Regina." She smiles at the younger woman in the mirror.

"That will take some getting used to but I think I'll manage," Tink replies coyly. "You'll break hearts tonight in that dress."

"I hope not," Regina whispers, smoothing out the red material nervously. "Alright let's do this," she adds, heading to her vanity to put on some make up.

"Mama, the Lion King is over, can I watch the second one pleeease?" Her four-year-old almost begs as he enters her room, just when Regina is applying the finishing touches, clutching the plush toy version of the film's namesake against his chest. He looks up at her and gasps. "You are so pretty, Mama," Henry exclaims, all toothy grin and tinkling eyes.

Regina and Tink grin at the boy. "Thank you, Henry," his mother replies, drawing him to her and onto her lap, not caring about potential wrinkles, never when she is holding her son. "And no I'm afraid you can't watch another movie, it's getting close to your bedtime, honey. But Miss Tink will read you a story, and we will watch the film together tomorrow if you promise to be good to her, alright?" She bargains playfully, chucking him under the chin lightly.

He seems to ponder for a moment before nodding eagerly and hugging her tightly. Regina closes her eyes, resting her cheek on his soft brown hair, relishing in the warmth and love her son gives her so freely.

The ringing of the doorbell interrupts the moment. "I'll get it." Tink announces and her voice sounds oddly choked.

Regina hoists Henry on her hip and heads towards the entrance hall. The boy shrieks when he sees who has been let into the apartment.

"Aunty Mal!" He cries, running towards her before his mother has even put him on the ground. He crashes in Mallory's legs, who pretends to be annoyed but still scoops him up, grunting as she does so.

"What is your mother feeding you? You're getting bigger and taller each time I see you. I won't be able to lift you up soon," she says, making a funny face that causes Henry to chuckle.

"Silly Mal! I'm still little." He retorts, looping his little arms around her neck.

"And that better not change any time soon," the blonde instructs in a mock serious tone. "Is it alright if I whisk your mother away for the night, little man?" She asks then, bringing their foreheads together.

"You bring her back?" Henry inquires solemnly.

"Always." Mal answers and all the playfulness is gone.

Regina watches them, a watery smile on her lips, a hand resting over her stomach. Her son and his godmother, the two most important persons in her life. There is not a day that goes by where she doesn't thank whatever lucky star put Mallory on her path and let them meet again after she'd gone back to the U.S and her friend had stayed in France.

"Well what a sombre mood you're both in suddenly," she says, drawing Mal's attention towards her.

The other woman looks her up and down and gives her an appreciative smirk."My, my, don't you look ravishing! I knew that dress would be perfect for the occasion."

"Don't get your hopes up just yet, this won't be enough." Regina warns.

"Hmm, believe me, my hopes won't be the only thing that will be up tonight." Mallory drawls, grinning at Regina's gasp of outrage.

"Mal!" She scolds, looking pointedly between her friend and an oblivious Henry, who is busy playing with Mallory's necklace.

Mal rolls her eyes. "Don't worry, your boy is smart but there is no way he is going to understand that one for a few more years. Isn't that right, little man?" She asks Henry for confirmation and a moment passes before he realises he is being talked to and looks from his godmother to his mother. "See, that's what I thought." Mal laughs at the little confused face. "Anyway, we better get a move on before the concert starts without us," she adds, kissing Henry on the cheek leaving a bright red lipstick mark behind.

Regina takes her son back in her arms for one last tight embrace and an Eskimo kiss that leaves the boy giggling. "I love you, Mama," he whispers and Regina bites the inside of her cheek hard to stop the tears from ruining her make up.

"I love you too sweetheart. Sweet dreams, my little prince," she murmurs back and then transfers him in Tink's waiting arms.

* * *

The cab drive to the pub is mostly silent, the growing tension in Regina's shoulders lets Mallory know that small talk won't be welcome, so she just takes one of Regina's hands in hers, ignoring the shaky breath her friend lets out when she does and just looks out the window, as they navigate through New York City's traffic.

Regina is in a bit of a daze when they finally enter the establishment. The sudden onslaught of music and loud voices from the crowd already gathered there does nothing for her frayed nerves. Mallory still holds her hand tightly and she steers them to the bar, ordering a Cosmopolitan for herself and a whiskey and coke for Regina and forcibly putting it in the brunette's hands as soon as it is ready.

"Drink up, it's liquid courage." The blonde commands and Regina remembers drinking the same thing all those years ago, for the very same purpose, before she spent her last night in Paris with Robin. She covers a shiver by downing most of the drink in one healthy gulp, earning an impressed look from Mallory in the process.

They finish their first drinks and order their second right before the band is announced.

"They chose their band name one drunken night, which probably explain a few things, and never expected it to work. However, a few and then more than a few people decided to prove them wrong. Please welcome, fresh from across the Pond, Robin Hood and his Merry Men!" The pub's owner speaks in the microphone over the loud cheers and applause of the patrons.

Regina's breath stops as they walk onto the small scene, laughing and clapping and bowing. Eight years since she last saw him and it feels like no time has passed. As if they are still in Connolly's Corner, in Paris, when she would sat at the bar and watch him play. She doesn't realise she is moving until the crowd packed just before the scene prevents her from approaching more.

Robin speaks a few words of thanks to the pub's owner and to everyone who came and she can't take her eyes away. The music starts and he sings and every single emotion and feeling his voice ever stirred inside her comes back to the surface and she feels like she is suffocating.

The lyrics, which talk about a man waiting for his love, ready to do anything for her, to give her all the time in the world to come back to him, are enough to do her in and she needs air. She struggles against the sea of people, deaf to her surroundings, unaware of the wide blue eyes following her progress and the falter in the lead singer's voice.

She stumbles on the patio, ignoring the curious looks a few persons who are smoking out there give her. She leans against a wall and takes big gulps of air, eyes and fists closed tightly, nails digging in her skin as she tries to get control over the raging storm of emotions that threatens to engulf her whole.

She starts when she feels a hand on her shoulder and a head pressing close to hers.

"We can leave if it's too much for you." Mal's warm and calm voice speaks softly in her ear.

Regina shakes her head. "No, no, I just... I just need a minute."

"Okay." The blonde replies simply.

Regina opens her eyes and turns her head to look at her friend. "You can go back inside if you want, I'll be fine."

Mallory snorts. "Yeah, clearly you are! I dragged you here, I'm not going to leave you alone out there. You said you need a moment then we'll stay here until the moment has passed and you're ready," she counters, shrugging.

It's not often that Regina Mills is speechless, but when she is, Mallory is usually responsible.

The moment lasts during the whole concert and they go back inside just as the applause dies down. Mal leads Regina towards the stage and waves the pub's owner over. The man approaches them, smiling widely at the blonde woman.

"Mallory! It's been too long! Is this the groupie you talked to me about?" He asks, observing Regina curiously.

Mal rolls her eyes. "Jeff, I told you she isn't a groupie, she knows the lead."

"Well if I had gotten a dollar each time I heard that..." Jeff says. "Anyway, Mal vouches for you so I trust that you're not one of those crazy stalker?"

Regina's eyebrows raise while Mal snorts. "I can assure you that I'm most certainly not a stalker."

"Yeah but that's exactly what a crazy stalker would say, isn't it?" Jeff replies.

"You have a lot of experience with those kind of people?" Regina asks.

The man grins. "I like her, Mal, but then you've always had very good tastes in... friends." The way he says "friends" sounds like a question but neither Mallory nor Regina seem inclined to clarify it for him.

"Anyway, if there is any problem, Leroy here will deal with it," he adds, smirking and nodding his head towards a grumpy looking man who guards the curtains leading to the backstage area. "Leroy, let the lady in and be nice," he instructs as he gives his arm for Mallory to take. "You did promise me a drink."

Mallory nods, winks at Regina, whispering as she passes her. "Just take a deep breath and it will be alright."

The brunette does just that but it doesn't help much. She heads towards Leroy who holds the curtain for her.

"Robin's dressing room is the last one on the right," he tells her and she thanks him, forcing a smile but it feels more like a grimace.

Her heart is hammering in her chest, blood pumping in her ears. Her palms are clammy, she wipes them nervously on her dress and then she is facing the door. It's not completely closed, she can hear people talking inside. With each second that passes, the remnants of her courage leave her, she is standing there, hesitating, when the door opens and Will Scarlett, the band's drummer since the very beginning, appears. He looks at her, his mouth hanging open.

"Huh, Robin, mate?" Is all he seems able to formulate but it's enough to attract the man in question's attention.

The silence that falls when Robin lays eyes on her is deafening. Regina can't read his expression and panic grips her.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come," she says, turning around to leave.

"Regina?" Awe, uncertainty, hope, all wrapped in one single whispered word. "That's really you?"

She swivels back towards him, an uncertain smile pulling at her lips.

Will looks between them, clears his throat nervously, scratches his chin. "Yeah, right, I'll just..." He shrugs, not knowing how to finish his sentence, and walks away.

Regina takes a deep shaky breath and observes Robin. He is bare-chested, holding a shirt in his hands, and she has trouble focusing on anything other than the last and only time she saw him like this. His strong arms surrounding her, her head pillowed on his broad chest... _you have to stop that Regina_, she thinks, looking up and trying to clear her head. She catches his eyes and notices he is looking at her dazedly.

"Where are my manners? Come in!" He stammers, stepping aside.

Regina enters the room slowly, unsure, her head bowed.

"I thought I saw you in the pub earlier but I was convinced it was just my imagination playing tricks. Wouldn't be the first time," he says, his intense gaze not straying from her face as if he is afraid she will disappear if he so much as blinks.

The last part throws her off and it must show because he clarifies. "I often imagined seeing you during concerts, especially on this side of the Pond. I always hoped... I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that."

She chuckles darkly. "You are apologizing? When I'm the one who left like a thief in the night and never called?"

Robin shakes his head. "Mallory explained to me what had happened, and I won't lie and say it was easy, but I realise you didn't have much choice in the matter."

"How can you be so... so understanding? I just..." Regina sighs and walks further into the room, her gaze falling on the open case of his guitar. There are pictures tapped there, one of the band, one of a little boy and a woman she expects to be his son and ex-wife and one of... them? She gets closer and studies it.

She remembers that day, they had gone out with Mal and Will, played tourists in Montmartre, it had been a great day, but she hadn't realised there was a picture of this particular moment, when they were seating on the steps leading to the Sacré-Coeur, having lunch and he decided to feed her some of his chocolate fondant. She is laughing in the picture, chocolate all around her mouth and he is looking at her as if he wishes he could pluck the stars down from the sky for her. He has kept it, all those years. This memory of one of the best day of her life has followed him everywhere.

"I thought you would hate me for leaving the way I did," she breathes, eyes brimming with tears and she feels him, standing right behind her, his presence warm and comforting in a way she feels she doesn't deserve.

His arms are around her, his chin rests on the top of her head and she tries to relax against him, tries to recapture this easy intimacy there always was between them. Before, at least.

"I could never hate you. I tried, believe me, I tried so hard to convince myself you had just used and thrown me away like an old tissue, but that lasted for about five minutes. I never stopped believing you'd come back or contact me. When I heard about your husband's death, I waited with bated breath but when nothing changed, I thought maybe it was time to move on. Didn't work out." The last words are muffled by the kiss he presses on her hair.

"There was never a moment where I imagined you would be happy to see me. Mallory almost had to drag me here tonight," Regina replies softly, slowly losing her battle against her tears.

"Regina, you've been on my mind since the first time you walked into that little French pub all those years ago, cheering us with a drink in one hand threatening to spill, and you never left."

"We are different people than we were back then," she says, turning around in his arms.

"Are we?" He asks, brushing hair away from her face, tucking strands behind her ear. "I may have a few wrinkles and a grey hair here and there but I have to say that you, Milady, haven't changed a bit, or for the better anyway. Time has no grip on you."

"Flattery will get you nowhere. And you know that's not what I meant." She tries to sound stern but how can she when she feels his calloused fingers caressing her cheek tenderly. "A lot has happened, we're not the same."

"And yet, you're here. Mallory may have dragged you here but I don't see her anywhere. No one forces you to stay if you don't want to. You can try and give me all the reasons why this isn't a good idea but know that there isn't a day that went by during all those years where I didn't think about you and what I would give to have another chance..." She needs him to stop talking, she can handle a lot of things, she is a mother and a tough business woman after all, but his words are too much for her so she does the only thing that has always worked to shut him up.

She kisses him and it takes him only a second to respond. His arms tighten their embrace, the hand that was stroking her cheek slides to the back of her head, tilting it slightly backward. There was never anything sweet about their kisses, for a long while it was all she allowed so they always poured everything they felt into them. This one is no exception. Things heat up quickly, too quickly perhaps. She finds herself pressed against the wall beside a small couch without really knowing how she got there.

She puts a hand on his still bare chest, just over his heart, and gives a light push and he stops immediately. They breathe hard, foreheads resting against each other.

"Well, that was..." Robin says, stunned.

"Yes, it was." His inability to finish his sentence amuses her greatly and the last remaining thread of tension she felt flies away. This is Robin, he will stop if she asks, he won't ever push her to do anything she doesn't want to. "What did I ever do to deserve to have you in my life?" She whispers and he frowns.

"Now, now, I think that's the other way around," he replies.

"Do you have any idea what kind of mess you would get yourself into if we don't stop now?" She asks as he peppers kisses along her jaw and neck.

"Between the two of us, the press would have a field day, "The Devil wearing Prada businesswoman seen with lead band singer, can he warm her frozen heart?". I know what they say about you, Regina, I don't care, I know you better than that."

"We both have sons to protect. You travel all over the world..."

"Regina, stop please. Can we just enjoy this tonight and worry tomorrow?"

"I just don't want you to regret this." She looks down and her voice is so small and full of pain that it gives Robin pause. He cups both her cheeks and waits until she is looking at him again to talk.

"Listen to me, Regina, I have waited to see you again for eight years. Whatever happens tonight, I will never regret it."

She stays silent for a long while, studying him. _Screw it_, she thinks at last, she has wasted enough time already. _Just live your life_, Mal said, well that's exactly what she intends to do.

Their next kiss is bruising, with an intensity bordering on desperation. She turns them and walks him backwards until he is seated on the couch with her in his lap.

"That dress should be illegal," he says, pulling the red material higher up on her thighs.

She smirks. "And you haven't seen what's hiding beneath," she whispers in his ear before nibbling the lobe playfully.

He groans. "You're going to be the death of me, woman. Bold and audacious as you are."

She wriggles a little and they both moan when his hardness is pressed against her core.

"Too many clothes," Regina pants, trying to catch her breath between each heated kisses.

"I agree," Robin murmurs, already gathering her dress and pulling it over her head. He is devouring her, looking her up and down and it's like she can feel the heat of his gaze on her skin.

"You are so gorgeous," he says reverently.

She can't hide her blush and instead busies herself with popping open the button of his jeans and raises on her knees on either side of him to give him more room to take them off.

They are both down to their underwear and Robin's hands are everywhere, rediscovering each inches of her flawless skin.

He takes off her bra and lowers his mouth to a breast, relishing in her pleasured gasp. He sucks on her nipple, alternating between laving it with his tongue and biting it slightly, pinching the other between two fingers.

She rolls her hips, tries to be as close to him as she can. She moans louder when he slips a hand in her red lacy panties and touches her. She is wet, close to soaking with all the friction and his ministrations.

Her mouth drops open and her nails dig into his biceps when he bites her nipple sharply and slips a finger inside her at the same time, his thumb on her clit.

In retaliation, she sucks at his pulse point until she leaves a mark.

"No more teasing," she says.

"Yes, Ma'am." Robin lowers his boxer, his erection standing proudly.

They join their hands together on his cock, him guiding her movements, her remembering what he likes.

He moves her panties to the side and she slowly lowers herself on him. They stay joined, unmoving for a moment, lazily kissing. She puts his hands on her hips, rolls them again and then starts moving up and down.

Moans and groans and skin slapping against skin are the only sounds heard in the room for a while.

Regina feels more alive than she has in a very long time. She is aware of every nerve ending, every muscle straining as she leans back with her hands on his knees and changes the angle of his thrusts.

"You feel so good, my love. So good," Robin gasps.

"I'm close, Robin. I'm going to..." She lets out a loud whimper when he thumbs her clit again.

"Let go for me, Regina. Let go."

A couple more thrusts and she cries his name as she comes hard, her core squeezing him and bringing him over the edge. He gathers her in his arms and she slumps against his chest, breathing fast.

"Stay with me tonight," she says, when their heartbeats slow down. "Come home with me and stay. Let's see where this leads us."

The smile he gives her is dazzling. "I would follow you to hell and back, Milady."

.

"I better be maid of honour at your wedding and godmother to all the kids you'll pop out," is the first thing Mallory says the next morning when she strolls into Regina's bedroom and finds them together. Her only answer is a pillow thrown at her face.

A few months later, "Just One More Time," the band's new song that talks about second chances at love and finding each other despite long years apart and all kinds of hardships, is an instant hit. When they are asked if it has anything to do with them and their story, they deny it vehemently but the knowing smiles they exchange don't fool anyone.

* * *

**Thoughts**?


	15. I can't stand there and watch you burn

**A/N: I know I should be writing the next chapter of Poor Unfortunate Souls but this little piece came to me and wouldn't leave. Dedicating this to Oneresilientheart for her birthday. As always thank you for your reviews, for reading, following, alerting, I love you all :***

**Usual disclaimer applies**

**Medieval Witch Hunt AU starring our favorite couple. Enjoy!**

* * *

**I can't stand there and watch you burn**

She is curled up in a corner of the little hovel she shares with her sick father, trying to stifle her cries as to not attract his attention. Although, she is not sure he would even realise what's going on, he is getting weaker by the day, no matter how hard she tries to nurse him back to health.

They are coming for her with torches and pitchforks, like they did years ago for her mother. She should flee, she should run and try to save her life but she can't leave her father behind, she can't abandon him when he isn't strong enough to defend himself. Not that she will be much help to him when she's dead.

They burned her mother at the stake for being a witch, came for her in the middle of the night and paralysed her with some kind of powder provided by a fairy (and Regina never really understood why it was alright to ask for a fairy's help while her mother had to die), leaving a screaming five years old Regina struggling in her father's arms, tears and snot running down her face as she desperately called for her mother to be given back to her, never to be heard. They will do the same to her on the very day she realised she has magical abilities too.

She was on the market, keeping her head down, minding her own business as she has always done. She always tries not to be noticed, to be invisible but today it didn't work. Today, one of the village's good-for-nothing drunk decided that he couldn't live another day if he didn't get to put his dirty hands on her. He surprised her, attacking her from behind and she dropped her full basket on the ground. His hands were everywhere and she fought him but he was stronger and she screamed and kicked but no one helped, they just watched or turned away.

It was then she felt it, this flow, this powerful flow, warming her from the inside out, making her aware of every capillaries, every vessels, every veins and arteries, every muscles in her body. The heat intensified and she couldn't contain it, it started to hurt and she felt like the only way to make it stop hurting was to let it out.

A wave of energy left her, knocking the man hard to the ground and leaving her free and shaking, trying to catch her breath. She looked down at the guy at her feet, he was unconscious, a trickle of blood on the side of his head where it hit a rock. She heard whispers and saw people starring and recoiling from her in fear. She grabbed her basket and fled, running as fast as she could back home, tears blinding her vision.

She managed to cook something for her father, her movements automatic, needing no thoughts. She helped him eat but she didn't save a bite for herself, nausea and a cold sweat causing her to curl up the moment her father closed his eyes. She hasn't moved since.

She thinks she hears voices outside in the distance and she wonders if she is imagining it. She wonders how long she has left. She wonders how her mother felt in her last moments, if she was as scared as Regina is right now. Probably not, Cora was strong, proud, she would have never shown fear, she would have never begged her captors for her life.

Regina, though, Regina would be ready to do anything if it meant staying alive and getting to take care of her father and holding his hand until the very end.

A dull noise makes her jump and then freeze in terror. Are they here already? She waits, unmoving, paralysed. The bedroom's door creaks open and a silhouette appears in its frame. She closed the shutters as soon as her father was asleep with the foolish hope that people would think her gone, and with the night now having fallen, she can't distinguish the intruder's features. Whoever it is cautiously peeks into the room, first noticing her father sleeping in the bed and then her, all pale, tear streaked face, in her uncomfortable position on the floor.

Regina can't breathe as the shape moves into the room towards her.

A man, a young man, crouches in front of her and offers her a relieved smile.

"Milady, I was afraid I would be too late," he says and her eyes widen as she finally recognizes him. Robin of Locksley, the son of the lord owning this part of the lands, although he has always been closer to the villagers than to the nobles swarming in and out of his father's castle. "You need to leave, a large crowd is coming for you for some alleged claim that you are a witch and they don't seem to listen to reason. You can't..."

"But I am," Regina whispers and he frowns at her. "I am what they say. I hurt that man. I am a witch," this is the first time she says it out loud, the realization feels like a punch in the gut and she doubles up, gasping.

"Milady, listen to me, I can help you but we have to move fast," Robin breaks in, cupping her cheek, forcing her to look at him.

She observes him and is suddenly wary because why would he do that?

"I can't let them do this. I can't stand by and do nothing while they kill an innocent," he answers when she voices her question.

"But I am not an innocent!" She exclaims. "I hurt that man, who knows what else I could do. I felt that power coming out of nowhere and I couldn't control it. What if it happens again?" She asks desperately, clutching the lapels of his coat.

He opens his mouth to answer but stops when her father moves on the bed, turning on his side.

"We will find a way," he resumes quietly after they're sure the older man isn't waking up. "We will," he asserts when she shakes her head disbelievingly. "There is always a way but letting them take you and kill you, that's not right."

"I can't just leave, what about my father? What will happen to him? He is sick, he can't take care of himself," she argues and she doesn't know why she does, because he is trying to save her life but it's not just her life, is it?

"Let me help you and your father. Please, let me do this for you," he pleads and his intense blue eyes are all warmth and concern and she can't remember the last time a human being not related to her by blood has looked at her like that.

"Why is it so important to you? Why do you care about what happens to me?" Regina wants to know. Robin sighs and rubsthe back of his neck, looking away.

"Years ago, when I was just a boy, I stood amongst the crowd who took away your mother. I could do nothing but watch as you tried to stop them. Your screams have haunted me for years. I have kept an eye on you from afar. They all rejected you for what your mother supposedly was, they never gave you a chance but you never complained, you lived your life among them, kept to yourself. I know you never meant to hurt that man, you were protecting yourself. He is the one who should be punished, he was actually." Robin's gaze turns dark as he says this, fists clenching as he remembers just how he got revenge on her behalf on that low-life who dared to touch her without her permission.

"You... you did this? For me?" She stammers and he nods.

"That's why it took me so long to get here. I couldn't let him get away with what he did to you," he replies and when he cups her cheek again, it's tender and she leans into his touch. "But we need to go, I will take care of your father, I promise you, when it's safe I will find a way to reunite you. Trust me," he implores.

She looks between her father's still form and the young man starring at her. She nods, closing her eyes for a moment to stop her tears from flowing again.

"Can you tell my father that I love him and I'm sorry for leaving him behind," she mumbles.

"I will and he will understand," he assures. "Come with me," and he holds his hand out for her to take. A leap of faith and she gets up with his help.

He leads her outside of the hovel and she can hear the angry voices clearly this time. There is a horse standing there. He takes her in his arms to sit her on the horse.

"I have friends in the forest who will protect, my horse knows the way. Don't stop until you're with them, tell them I sent you, they're expecting you," she has trouble wrapping her head around what he is saying but she nods dutifully.

He seizes her hand and gives it a fleeting kiss. "Be safe, Milady. We will see each other again," he declares, before slapping the horse and sending it galloping.

She looks back at him until he is too far away for her to see and she sends a silent prayer that both he and her father will be alright.

* * *

**What did you think?**


	16. Missing Year: The most resilient

**A/N: As always, thank you to all of you who take the time to read, alert, favourite and review my stories, it means more than I can ever say.**

**This is another piece from the Missing Year, no ties to any previous stories. A big shout out to Lolymoon because she pushed me to published that one and she looked it over.**

**I hope you like this (also don't shoot me over the ending)**

**Usual Disclaimer applies.**

* * *

**That's what it means to be the most resilient.**

* * *

Much later, when things had settled down and signs of danger had been ruled out, many of the castle's inhabitants would look back ironically on the fact that they all worriedly held their breaths when the Evil Queen fell unconscious in the middle of an otherwise eventless lunch.

The irony would only magnify in their memories as they'd recall that the first people by her side, calling her name in concerned voices and checking her over with gentle hands, were the leader of the band of thieves- chased for years by the Queen's Black Knights- and the Princess and her Charming husband who suffered her wrath and still call her family.

It is quite something to see a Queen sink to the ground, especially one they all have so many mixed feelings about. Their opinions being divided between the hate they feel for the dangerous, blood-thirsty woman who terrorized their beloved Princess and anyone who dared to help her, and the reluctant gratitude they experience as they remember that, in her attempt to forfeit their happy endings, she actually brought them to a fairer world where royals and peasants mingled as the former were put to work and the latter finally had a chance at better lives.

The gratitude mostly won out as they watched the Thief and the Prince reach out at the same time to carry the Queen out of the crowded Hall and the ensuing staring contest that only the unusually sharp voice of their teary-eyed Princess was able to break. Robin Hood took advantage of the Prince's momentary distraction and gathered the fallen woman cautiously in his arms, exiting swiftly away from prying eyes.

No one ever thought they would one day wait anxiously for news on the most controversial woman in all the realms, and if some people tried to maintain the illusion that they were only here to know when they would have to put on their best clothes for the funeral, well, they were indulged, but certainly not believed.

* * *

Much later, when he would be certain she was alright, that this illness which threatened her life has been drained and cured, Robin Hood might question the instinct that propelled him out of his chair and by her side when he saw the Queen, Regina as he dared call her in her presence only a handful of times, rise from her seat, a troubled expression on her beautiful face, a lithe pale hand clutching at her chest, before collapsing without a sound.

As he crossed the distance separating them, he tried to guess what caused this and he recalled the few times he caught her with a pained grimace, hands fisted, or trying to hide the flush and sweat provoked by what he realised was an intermittent fever. He recalled pallor, dark circles under her eyes, untouched meals and days where the Princess herself had to drag her out of bed, and he cursed under his breath when all the pieces created quite the worrisome picture.

She didn't respond to their call of her name and the only thing that reassured them was the fact that she didn't seem to have hurt her head on her way down. Robin's arms bumped against the Prince's in their hurry to take her out of there, and the outlaw narrowed his eyes at the former shepherd, silently ordering him to back off.

It was strange, this visceral need to feel her against him, to be sure that her heart was still beating, that it wasn't too late. Words from the Princess that he didn't hear, and probably didn't care much about, pulled the other man's attention away and Robin didn't wait for one more second to lift the Queen from the floor and into his embrace.

He was aware of the people following them but he didn't slow down. A twist of fate placed his and his men's quarters closer than any of the rest and he didn't ponder one moment before heading to his own chambers and laying the still figure on his bed. He stepped back to let one of the dwarves, named Doc if he remembered correctly, and the Widow Lucas examine her. He told them about his observations of her symptoms and the troubled look they exchanged caused something to painfully twist in his gut.

They checked her left arm, where the flying monkey had deeply scratched her but the bandage and the wounds underneath were clean. Snow had forced her to have it taken care off at the time and Robin saw how relieved the Princess was when the tension in her shoulders released for a moment.

"An infection of the heart?" Doc voiced out, at last.

"But how would she have acquired it?" Granny replied, turning her head to the side when the Princess gasped suddenly.

"When we first arrived, just before the flying monkey attacked us, she was..." Snow White stopped, darting her eyes towards her stepmother hesitantly.

"Talk, girl. Now is not the time to worry about keeping secrets, not if you want us to help her," Granny urged, and if they found the tone harsh no one called her out on it.

"She was burying her heart in the woods and when I tried to make her see that it wasn't what Henry would have wanted, she put it back in just like that. I didn't think that..." The Princess trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

Robin and Granny exchanged dark looks, their lips pinched at the thought of both the blatant manipulation and the notion that with the infection in the Queen's arm, even her magic could have ignored one slower to take root.

"It's called a pericarditis, when the sac around the heart is inflamed or infected. In Storybrooke, it would have been treated easily with heavy doses of antibiotics and most certainly some surgical drainage but here, with no equipments and the increased risk of sepsis, we're going to have to be creative," Doc explained.

"Maybe," David started slowly, "Maybe, the Blue Fairy could help. If I understand what you're saying, you need to clean her heart but the usual ways would worsen the situation, right?"

Both Granny and Doc nodded.

"So, if someone with magic took out her heart and cleaned it..." He stopped talking as both his wife and Robin winced at the thought.

Doc, however, considered the suggestion thoughtfully. "It might work but I don't know if she is capable of doing that. I always believed only practitioners of dark magic were able to rip hearts out."

Snow bit her bottom lip. "And she might not want to do it anyway. Regina and Blue have never really seen eye to eye."

Granny snorted. "Understatement of the year. Well, you're just going to have to ask nicely, girl, and hope that your fairy godmother doesn't demand payment like the Dark One does."

Robin looked between them all before settling his eyes on the inert woman on his bed. He wasn't sure he understood everything that was at play here but he was glad that there were some people who were willing to save Regina.

She started whimpering then and Robin noticed the flush was back.

"She is feverish again," he stated and Granny immediately jumped into action, ordering the men out and enlisting Snow's help to make the Queen more comfortable.

In the hours that followed, Robin stayed by her side, wiping her brow, trying to discern what her mutterings meant while Snow White and her husband negotiated with the Blue Fairy.

His men and Roland came by, his boy immediately taking the cloth from his father's hands to gently cool Regina's burning forehead.

Robin had to turn away from the soft, concerned expression on his son's face with his little brows furrowed and he focused on what his men had to say about the rest of the castle's reactions to the Queen's illness.

As his men talked, he wondered not for the first time if letting his son near the Queen had been a good decision. His boy had already lost his mother and he had gotten attached to the monarch surprisingly quickly. Robin didn't want to imagine Roland's reaction if she was to pass away. He wasn't even sure what his own reaction would be.

The complexity of his feelings for the dark-haired sorceress was an intricate mess he didn't feel ready to dwell on when her future was so uncertain. It was probably cowardly of him but his mind was already drifting to another time where he had been in a similar situation, and despite all his efforts the outcome had been gruesome. He didn't want to go through that again.

It was just after his men left with Roland that Regina came to for the first time, but he didn't have time to assess how she felt because the princely couple entered the room accompanied by the Blue Fairy, Doc and Granny.

"Blue accepted to do it, she thinks it will work," the young brunette announced, a tentative smile on her lips that only grew when she saw that Regina was awake.

"What's going on?" the Queen asked, her glazed eyes looking from Snow to Robin with uncertainty.

"We're going to cure this infection, Regina. You'll be alright in no time," Snow explained, her voice full of hope but Robin didn't think any of it registered in Regina's febrile mind. She had noticed the fairy slowly approaching her and she clutched the thin linen covering her apprehensively.

"What are you doing? What's going on? Daniel, what are they doing?" Regina screamed, drawing her knees against her chest.

Robin looked at her, confused, and he turned to the others, wondering if any of them could make sense of the Queen's delirium. The Princess had gone deathly pale, her husband seemed close to choking on his own saliva, Granny had an expression full of pity, the Fairy was indifferent, only Doc looked as confused as he felt.

He felt Regina grab his hands before she burrowed herself against his chest. "Daniel, please tell them to leave me alone," she whispered, now clutching at his shirt just above his heart.

He swallowed with difficulty as he understood what was going on. "They're trying to help you, Regina. You're suffering from a grave condition and the Blue Fairy can cure you," he soothed but she shook her head.

"The fairies never come when I call them. It's a trick, Daniel, it's _her_, it has to be," she mumbled, her voice weakening with every word. Robin couldn't help but look up at Blue and he swore she seemed guilty for a moment.

"Do you trust me, Regina?" he whispered in her ear, hating himself for doing this.

She nodded her head.

"Then believe me when I say these people are here to help."

She raised her head and put her cheek against his. "Will you stay with me?"

"Of course, I will," was his instant and heartfelt reply.

Blue was on the other side of the bed by that time. Her presence so near made Robin uneasy and he tightened his embrace around Regina's frail form.

"Will it hurt?" she asked and she sounded so young and innocent that Robin felt something break inside him.

The Fairy's blank expression softened a bit. "It will but not for long," she replied. "May I?" she asked, approaching her hand to the Queen's chest.

Regina closed her eyes and nodded.

Her pained gasp when the Fairy's hand broke through skin and bones to clutch around her heart sent shivers running down Robin's spine.

The organ was finally pulled out and Robin was fascinated by the amount of colours surrounding it, the red core, the strings of black and a yellow white substance leaking from it.

"You will have to clean inside too," Doc reminded the Fairy as she slowly turned the heart in her hands, making the foreign substance disappear.

Robin remained tensed as long as Blue held the beating organ, trying to control the impulse that made him want to take it away from her.

Regina's eyes were fixated on it but Robin couldn't read her. He wasn't even sure of what she was really aware at this point. She shuddered violently when the Fairy finished cleansing her heart and started purging the remain of the infection from inside her chest.

At last, the battered organ was put back in its rightful place and Robin breathed more easily.

"I'm tired," Regina whispered, causing Robin to smile.

"Rest my Queen, you need to build back your strength," he replied as he helped her settle back down. She was fast asleep before her head even hit the pillows.

"My work here is done," Blue declared, frowning as she observed intently the unlikely couple before her.

"Is it true what she said?" Snow asked, her first words since the whole process began. "That the fairies never came when she called them?"

Blue stayed silent for a while, her lips a thin line. "We cannot help everyone," she answered.

"Not even little girls terrorized by their own mother who want to escape that life?" Snow insisted in a murmur.

"Not that little girl," the Fairy replied.

"Because of Cora?" David took over for his wife. "I thought good always overcome evil."

"In the end it does, but like in any fight there are casualties, you both know that," Blue sounded offended to be questioned in a such a way.

"So Regina was a casualty? She had to pay for her mother's sins?" It was the first time Robin ever heard Snow sound angry.

"Her fate wasn't in my hands. There was nothing to be done to save her from that life and she made her own choices, do not blame me for them," the Fairy said in a clipped tone.

"She asked for help and no one came, just like every other times. We all played our part in this, didn't we?" Snow's question was rhetorical but Blue's hackles were raised.

"Listen, Princess, I am not responsible for what this woman has become and you would do well to remember that I stood by your side when you fought against her, you didn't seem too interested in saving a little girl then," she stated haughtily before flying out of the room.

Robin observed the contrite looks on the others' faces and then focused back on Regina. He felt as if things had shifted today, as if they had realised how many grey areas there were in their once black and white world. He simply hoped it would last when Regina would feel better.

* * *

Much later when she wouldn't feel so overwhelmed by the fact that she woke up with a little boy curled up by her side and said boy's father sitting close and playing absent-mindedly with a strand of her hair, Regina would take some time to wonder why her feverish mind had confused the Prince of Thieves himself with her long lost love.

She would wonder why his embrace made her feel safe, why he was the only one she believed she could turn to when everything else seemed threatening and scary.

Much later she would ponder on all those things, but in this moment, with Roland clutching her nightgown in his little fist and Robin smiling down at her as if her being awake was the eighth Wonder of the World, she couldn't find it in her to care.

She would probably ruin her reputation as the Evil Queen, but if this man, who had seen her battered, bruised and blackened heart, hadn't fled away screaming, then maybe there was more to him than a smelly bandit with an attitude.

It was ridiculous, most certainly hopeless because she was who she was, and even after having Henry, she had never known how to love very well and she would ruin everything as always, but what if this could be it. This chance at happiness Snow had claimed Henry would want for her.

She would consider it for a while as she recovered, as she would slowly make her way back to meals in the common Hall, as she would be saluted by the castle's inhabitants and asked about her health by people genuinely interested in the answer.

She would consider what this life would be like, not being hated and being free to show her affections to the people she cared most about without fear.

When she would finally be ready to take the plunge, there would be another attack lead by her greenish sister and she would be reminded why she had always been weary to let people close. No matter what, she always lost them and it was better for everyone if they stayed away.

So she would wrap herself in black once more and focus on getting rid of the nuisance called Zelena, and if she would catch Robin's disappointed eyes sometimes, she wouldn't say a thing, and keep her sorrow for the dead of night when pillows could muffle her sobs and brush her tears away.

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**Would love to hear your thoughts about this :)**


	17. OQW3 Day3 Lost a part of me

**A/N:** _Contribution to the third OQ Week Day 3 Lost Together, I interpreted it my own way._

_Inspired by the OUAT Comics Out of the Past, here Robin is Daniel's older brother, out for blood against the person he thinks is really responsible for his death._

_Big shoutout to Isah Underhill for her beta work!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or the comics or any of its characters, I just borrow them for a bit._

_Enjoy!_

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**Lost a part of me and then I found you**

She was barely paying attention to the captain of her guard's report. She was so tired of hearing their poor excuses. The bumpy ride along the cliff road seemed far more fascinating at this point.

"My Queen, we've searched every town north and south of here. Ransacked every stable, every attic, every cowshed, and there is still no sign of Snow White!" The man was squirming as he sat across from her in the carriage. He knew of his Queen's volatile temper, and if there was one thing she reacted to strongly against, it was failure.

"Then clearly your methods are incompetent," Regina spoke at last. "Snow White must be found. Begin your search anew, and this time, perhaps you should check the outhouses, as well," she waved her hand dismissively, making it clear the discussion was over.

However, the captain didn't seem too inclined to let the subject go just yet, even in his clear fear of her, he spoke .

"Your Highness, may I suggest that we return to this area another day, when the sun is still out?" He asked, eyeing the moving scenery out of the windows warily.

Regina scoffed. "I know where we are. The Forest of the Dead doesn't frighten me. If we turn back now, that bratty Princess may gain even more ground. We must press on."

No sooner had she finished her sentence, suddenly the horses became agitated, had been startled by something -or was it someone?- standing in the middle of the narrow road. Regina looked out at the window, but it was too dark for her to be able to distinguish what was happening outside.

All she knew was that the driver was unable to control the horses anymore.

One of them faltered, it's hoof slipping to on the edge of the cliff, diverging their route, and bringing the others down with it.

Everything happened fast, so fast Regina didn't have time to summon her magic. "What on Earth?" She exclaimed, and at the next moment, they were going down the precipice. T he carriage made it's bumpy way down, making Regina jump from her seat, and the captain and herself crashed against each other, and also against the roof, walls and floor of her royal coach. It seemed interminable, and she couldn't focus enough to stop it as she hit her head against a hard surface and swore.

Finally, the carriage stopped moving and Regina found herself lying with her legs hanging out from one of the broken windows.

"Oh my head," she moaned in pain, dragging herself out of the ruined vehicle. She looked down at her two men sprawled there, unmoving.

"These men are more delicate than mother's crystals," she huffed.

She then evaluated the damages on herself, her long red riding vest was torn in several places, and as she straightened up a sharp twinge erupted from her shoulder. She bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood to prevent herself from crying out.

"Wonderful. A dislocated shoulder always makes for easy spell casting," she sighed. Healing spells had never been her forte, mostly due to the fact that Rumpelstiltskin didn't bother to teach her much about them. She vowed that she would read and practice anything she could find on the subject as soon as she was back at the Dark Palace.

She was going to have to reset her shoulder on her own. She took some deep breaths, bracing herself for what was to come.

"You can do it, Regina. You have suffered worse," she muttered, gritting her teeth as she bent her arm, trying to remember how to proceed.

A branch cracked somewhere behind her and she swirled around. A tall dark figure was standing in the distance.

"Show yourself, whoever you are!" She yelled, narrowing her eyes, trying to distinguish the stranger's features.

He pulled his hood back slightly and her mouth hanged open in surprise.

"It can't be..." She breathed. "Daniel?" She called but the man had turned and was walking away swiftly.

"Wait!" She cried out, grabbing the trail of her coat so she could follow him. "You don't need to fear me, Daniel! Whatever stories you might have heard about who I've become... They're not true!"

Why wasn't he stopping? It didn't make sense. Her feet ached inside her heeled boots but she kept going as he led her deeper and deeper within the forest. Had her head been clearer, she might have been suspicious but she was so convinced it was _him_, that it was really her Daniel well and alive, after all this time, that she threw caution to the wind.

Abruptly, one of her feet got caught in... was that a cord? And before Regina knew it, she tumbled down in a deep hole in the ground, her already battered body landing with a thud at the bottom. She groaned, pushing herself to her feet with difficulty.

"Daniel! Pull me up! I've been hurt and I can't..." She started but paused when a humourless chuckle resounded from above.

"Well, this was a good deal easier than I thought it would be," the man said and it was then that Regina realized that she had been played. As he appeared, hood free, the faint light of the moon catching on his blonde hair and sat on the edge of her dirt prison.

"You're not Daniel..."

"Of course not, my brother lies moldering in the ground," he replied, anger and pain fighting for dominance in his tone, a battle Regina knew all too well.

Suddenly, she remembered a conversation she had with Daniel once about his family. "You're... Robin? But... Daniel said you were off in a faraway realm. That you left to seek your fortune when he was just a child," she recalled, confused.

"Indeed I did, but I came back to find you Regina, or should I call you the Evil Queen?" He asked disdainfully before adding. "I'm sure you're wondering what I want with you."

"Among other things," she sassed, and in any other circumstances, she thought she would probably have enjoyed their little exchange. This man seemed to have enough fire to be a worthy opponent.

"I'm here because you killed my brother."

Regina was speechless for a minute, she had definitely not expected that. How could he think such a thing? She had done everything possible to save him and bring him back . "What?" She retorted, rather dumbly in her own opinion. "Whoever told you that was spinning lies!"

"So it's a lie you were going to run away with Daniel against your family's wishes?"

She stayed silent, looking up at him, her mouth a thin line as she pressed her lips together.

"They say you loved him." And his words brought back memories of a happier time, when Daniel was still alive and they would sneak away together between lunch and tea. "But if that were really true, you would have left him alone."

"It's Snow White who's to blame. If it wasn't for her, Daniel would still be alive." Regina protested.

"No matter what Snow White did, the fault lies with you. You made him believe a fantasy... convinced him the two of you could have a life together." His words were s harp blades cutting into her, one after the other, and prying open wounds that never had the chance to heal.

"And we would have -if Snow White hadn't betrayed our secret," but it sounded weak even to her own ears and Robin wasn't fooled.

"Do you honestly believe that, Regina? When has a romance between a noble and a peasant ever ended well?"

"I thought..." She trailed off but she was so tired, she wasn't even sure of what she was trying to say anymore.

"You were a spoiled brat, bored with her life of leisure. So you took up with a stable boy without contemplating the consequences he might face," he accused her, getting up, and throwing a golden substance in her direction.

"I wanted to spend the rest of my life with your brother!" She screamed, regardless of the strange substance he had thrown her way, trying to ignore the fact that, what he was holding against her were almost word to word the same complaints she had against her stepdaughter.

"And now you'll have the rest of your life to consider your sins."

The golden flakes fell at her feet and she felt the dangerous power they held. Her magic finally started to tingle at the tips of her fingers, and she tried to gather her energy and focus.

"I know you're already injured, your magic incapacitated, but I want to make sure you remain in the prison I've created for you. I procured this sand from a sea nymph in another realm. She said it could neutralize any magic, no matter how powerful the sorcerer. Once I cover you in it, you won't ever be able to escape this pit."

A violent shudder ran through Regina's entire body, at the mere thought of being trapped here to die a slow death. She had already broken the shackles that attached her to her mother and then to the King, she would not be ensnared again.

"Robin, stop!" She cried out desperately, a burst of purple light left her hands and hit the ground at his feet, causing him to loose his balance and slide down the hole.

"Wha.. You're a devious one, aren't you?" He exclaimed, trying to maintain his equilibrium.

"Let's talk about this!" She pleaded.

"There's nothing to talk about," he raged, reaching into the bag for some more sand.

"Please, I don't want to hurt you," she begged him, as she called more of her magic to protect herself.

"Unfortunately the feeling isn't mutual," he vociferated, abandoning the sand and unsheathing his sword. "You're going to suffer for what you did to my brother. I shall have my revenge."

Regina used her magic as a shield, dodging his hits but never attacking. "I want revenge for your brother too. We should work together, Robin. Join forces to hunt down the wretched Snow White."

"No, you are Daniel's true murderer," he bellowed and suddenly the will to fight left Regina.

_Maybe, he's right_, a young voice whispered in her right ear, her own voice but she hadn't sounded like that in a long time. _Daniel would be alive and happy, if it hadn't been for me._

_Are you mad? No, it was Snow. She told your mother, she is responsible. You would have fled away together if it hadn't been for her_. Another voice, stronger, darker, full of hate, yelled in her left ear, but Regina shook her head, ignoring the second voice. She could only get out of this unscathed by hurting Robin, and even the thought of harming Daniel's own flesh and blood was something she couldn't bear.

Her arms fell limply by her sides and she looked up at Robin who had stopped mid-swing, puzzled by this sudden reversal.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I loved Daniel with all my heart, all I wanted was to be with him, happy and free. I would do anything to bring him back. If even you, Daniel's own brother, can't see it, then what is the point? Do what you have to do, I'm done, I'm ready." and she closed her eyes, clinging to the memory of Daniel's smile. In a few moments, they would be reunited.

She waited for the blow to fall, expecting the blade to cut through her flesh, to tear her insides apart, but it never came. Instead, she heard the cling of a sword hitting the ground. She opened her eyes and watched Robin sink to his knees, holding his head between shaky hands.

"I just want my baby brother back," he murmured and tears sprung to Regina's eyes.

"It can't be done, believe me I tried," she approached him slowly and he looked up at her.

"He loved you too, you know. He would write to me, talking about this grand lady of his, about how he would marry her someday, give her everything she could possibly wish for. I thought he was delusional, a young fool in love. How could the granddaughter of a King possibly throw her life away for a mere stable boy?"

Regina could not hold back her sob this time, she lowered herself in front of him. "He was never a mere anything to me. He was everything and worth ten Kings."

Robin seemed to really see her for the first time then, taking in her disheveled state, torn clothes and the way she was holding her injured arm. He raised his hand cautiously towards it but she flinched away and he drew it back as if stung.

"I did this to you," he exhaled. "He would have never wanted this."

Regina shook her head. "But he isn't here anymore. He was taken from us and those who did that need to pay."

There was a glimmer in Robin's clear blue eyes, a dangerous flicker and in that moment Regina realized how much they had in common. They both struggled with the darkness inside them and Daniel had helped keep it at bay.

In their shared love for him, they would bring out the worst of themselves, but if it meant ensuring the destruction of Snow White, Regina didn't care.

* * *

She brought him back to the Palace, sending the Huntsman away without second thoughts and giving his quarters to Robin.

An invisible boundary, a line not to be crossed in the form of a dead stable boy, was drawn between them, and yet, as time passed, things were becoming more and more blurry.

Robin was relentless in his pursue of their enemies, in a short few months he managed to get closer to Snow that most of her Guards had in years. He was getting under Regina's skin, with his arrogance and the confident way he handled her and her temper. Her own Black Guards were deferring to him when it came to announcing her bad news. And yet there was something protective in his attitude.

It wasn't rare for Regina to wake up in the middle of the night, screaming from an intense nightmare, to find Robin sitting by her window, watching her. They never exchanged a word in those occasions, but Regina would fall back asleep, holding his gaze as long as she could and she wouldn't dream again.

In a way, it was inevitable, not that she really ever believed in that, but they were so in tune with each other, so similar but able to complete and balance one another. As if they were meant to be, maybe they were...

The first time they crossed the already blurred line, had been after he had been hurt during an attack against Snow's pet dwarves of all people. The remaining ones anyway, more than half of them were already residing in her dungeons, the net slowly closing around Snow as they took out her allies one by one.

She berated him for his carelessness, his incompetence, but he wouldn't have it. Before she knew it, he was pressing her against a wall with such a force all air left her lungs.

"We are in this together, Your Majesty. I will not be treated as one of your simpleton Black Guards."

She stared at him with wide eyes as she struggled against his grip.

"Do you understand me, Regina?" He whispered right in her ear and she fought back a moan when he took advantage to bite her earlobe and nibble it gently. "I asked you a question, my dear Queen. Do you understand me?"

She nodded and he released his grip just a fraction, but it was all she needed. She pushed him away, making him trip backwards.

He landed on his back, on one of the carpets of his room, with a grunt. She grabbed his wrists and pinned them over his head, she straddled him and he winced when she put pressure on one of his bruises.

"Two can play the game, dear," she smirked. "And you shouldn't try that when you're injured."

In a move she didn't anticipate, he reversed their positions, finding himself nestled between her opened legs. "Is that so? I like to think I'm always at the top of my game when I'm with you."

They gazed at each other intensely, until Robin looked down at her faintly parted lips.

"Do it, you know you want to," Regina said and his eyes snapped back up to hers instantly.

"Only if that's what you want."

"Don't be an idiot," she growled and seized the back of his head, crashing their mouths together.

As first kiss goes, she had known more refined, but she doubted she had ever known one more intense.

Ripped clothes, scratched marks, burns on their knees from repeatedly flipping over in a battle for dominance, he had her coming twice using his fingers and mouth and she returned the favour, teasing him until he almost passed out from the feeling of his cock down her throat .

They stayed on the carpet for a while, panting, while trying to come back to their senses. Having her naked in his arms meant his erection was quick to reappear and she chuckled, eyebrows raised.

"Seriously?"

"It seems you have that effect on me," he replied, picking her up bridal style, and depositing her gently on his bed.

He took the time to study her, memorizing every inch of her skin, slowly trailing his hand from her stomach to her breasts. He wanted to learn every sound she made and how he could draw them out. A nipple between two fingers, his mouth tracing lines around her navel, she finally snapped impatiently.

"If you don't fuck me now, I might just kill you."

He grinned. "I'm not going to just fuck you, Regina. I told you, I'm not one of your guards that you can take to your chambers to scratch an itch," he stated, teasing her opening with the head of his cock and she inhaled sharply. "I'm going to make love to you." He entered her with one powerful thrust and she cried out.

"Don't say things you don't mean," she gasped .

"You know that I always mean what I say. Stop fighting this, Regina, we tried to for as long as we could. I know you feel this connection too..." It was becoming difficult for him to think as she met him thrusts for thrusts.

She nodded. "Just shut up and make love to me then," she whimpered.

As she came once more with his name on her lips, she thought that it could have all ended that day when she was at his mercy in the middle of the Forest of the Dead, when he only had murder in his mind. Had she killed him, she was quite certain she would have lost a part of herself and there would have been no way to get it back.

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Reviews make my day :)


	18. D7: You can't fight dragons on your own

_A/N: As usual thank you so much for the response to my prompts and I will find some time to reply to your lovely reviews. Thank you for reading, favoriting, following, reviewing, you make it all worth it :)_

_For OQ Week 3, Day 7 Late night confession. Unbetaed, all mistakes are mine. Part of the Nightmares verse (see chapters 6 and 13) but can be read on its own. Heavy dose of Dimple Queen and Outlaw Queen feels._

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**You can't fight dragons on your own**

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She must be quite the sight, Regina thought as she made her way through the Castle, clutching her midnight blue velvet robe close to her, her long wavy black tresses flowing down her back.

She blamed her current situation on her inability to say no to Roland. She had noticed he had been a bit withdrawn all day, not his usual cheerful self, and combining that with the fact that his thief of a father didn't pester her at all that day, she had felt compelled to ask what was going on.

The boy had only shrugged, snuggling more heavily against her side as she was reading him a story about a dragon protecting a Princess from unworthy suitors until one day, a knight had laid his weapons down at the dragon's feet and asked its permission to meet and court the Princess.

Roland didn't need to know she had enlisted Belle's help to bring some changes to the book, since she hadn't been able to stop herself from cringing at the rather gruesome end the beast was meeting in the original tale, she knew how much Roland loved dragons.

"Papa was very sad today," Roland had finally admitted to her as he had traced the illustrations of the Princess and her knight flying on the dragon's back towards new adventures. "He didn't want me to see but I did."

Regina had nodded and rested her chin over his head, relishing in the soft tickles of the wild brown curls. "Of course you did, you're my smart, brave knight, you don't miss anything," she had replied softly and he had straightened up, puffing his chest out proudly, making her smile.

"I don't know why though," he had deflated a moment later. "I asked the Merry Men but no one said anything." He had turned fully towards her then, a hopeful look in his widened eyes. "Can you find out Gina? Can you find my papa and make him not sad anymore? With your magic? That always works for me."

She had known she was in big trouble then because how on Earth or any realm was she supposed to refuse anything to this adorable boy?

"Roland," she had sighed out. "My magic can't actually..." She had trailed off, seeing the way his expression was falling. "But I can try." _Where did that come from?_ She had wondered but the next second she had been squished into one of the most warm and heartfelt embrace she had ever known and all other thoughts had flown out of the window.

"Thank you Queen Gina!" Roland had exclaimed and she had to coax him into going to sleep, and thus giving her some time to look for his father without having to worry.

She really needed to be stronger when it came to the boy, she thought, before shaking her head, yeah like that would ever happen.

So there she was, strolling through her own Palace, that was not quite just her own these days, in the dead of night, trying to find an elusive thief... and failing, which was frankly annoying her. She had already passed three Guards and two dwarves, the last two had looked her up and down strangely, the first three hadn't dared, and none of them had been helpful, while she had been perfectly polite... Well, mostly civil and unthreatening anyway.

"When I dig you out of whatever hole you're hiding in, Robin of Locksley, I will make you regret keeping me up all night for nothing," she mumbled under her breath before freezing. _Huh, that didn't sound right_.

She shook her head and leaned on a nearby balcony, thinking "If I was a dirty, smelly thief, where would I go?" And just then, she noticed a flicker of light coming from the stables and she groaned in dismay. She loved horses, had always loved them, but given some of her experiences in the stables she tried to never spend too much time in the place. "Roland, the things I do for you," she muttered.

She used one of her well-known short cuts which came out near the entrance closest to where she needed to go.

She waved her hand and made a clear passage among the straw covered path and stood at the horse barn door, taking a deep breath, before settling an irritated gaze on the man sprawled on the ground, with a couple of empty bottles lying around him and one clutched in his hands.

She huffed, annoyed. "If I had known you were avoiding your own son to drink yourself into a stupor, I wouldn't have bothered looking for you," she snapped, ignoring the memories of her own escapade into the village to do exactly that some time ago. It wasn't the same, she decided.

Robin was startled from his apparently fascinating contemplation of the box in front of him by her voice and he looked up at her in wonder, his eyes skimming down her figure slowly, lingering in some places, and then looking back at the bottle he was holding and its empty sisters.

"I must not handle alcohol as well as I thought," he grumbled.

Regina looked down at herself, confused ,and realised quickly that in her hurry her dressing gown had fallen open, showing her flimsy black nightdress which in the light cast by the torches didn't leave much to the imagination. She cinched it again, fighting the urge to blush, because that would mean she cared about what he thought, and she didn't, did she? Who was she even fooling? She didn't remember much from her night of drinking herself into oblivion, but she knew she had been rather forward, the ghost memory of a strong hand on her body and an attempt at tangling limbs lingering somewhere in her mind and invading her dreams. It was becoming rather difficult to deny her growing attraction towards the thief.

"And I thought those days were behind you," she remarked, detouring her thoughts from the dangerous direction they were taking, nodding towards the bottles.

"Not today," he replied, his voice raspy and hoarse from the burning alcohol he had consumed.

She frowned, turning her attention to her black stallion which was neighing impatiently in the stall right next to her. She made an apple appear out of thin air and fed it to him, trying to determine how she was supposed to act in this situation, she was definitely swimming into unknown waters. She petted the horse slowly, it always made her feel calmer.

"I got one free pass, I guess you can have one too," she said at last and turned around to find him watching her intently.

"A free pass?" Robin asked, perplexed, and yes, that's right he didn't go to Storybrooke, there were some concepts which were foreign to him.

"I almost drunk my weight in ale and you stayed by my side without judgement... I owe you one," she explained, grimacing at the last part, never one to easily admit she was indebted to someone.

She almost laughed at the dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Alright, I need to stop drinking now because I am seeing and hearing things that can't possibly be true," he exclaimed, putting down the still half full bottle on the ground.

Regina rolled her eyes. "What the hell am I even doing here?" She snarled, swirling around and stepping towards the entrance.

"Regina, wait," Robin called her out and she stopped, not looking back at him but not leaving either. "I appreciate you being here, even if I'm quite sure it wasn't at your initiative."

_He sounds articulate for a drunk man_, Regina thought before exhaling and pivoting around.

"Roland was worried," she admitted, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Yes, he does that," Robin said, the corners of his lips lifting slightly at the thought of his meddling son and Regina couldn't help but smile fondly in response.

"Want to tell me what this is all about?" She asked and he looked down for a moment, frowning.

"My wife died three years ago," he answered plainly and Regina winced, knowing that there was no words she could possibly say to make him feel better. _Alright, maybe it was the same after all_.

"I understand that it does call for a drink... or several," she told him instead, moving to sit on the ground beside him, pretending not to see the dumbstruck look on his face as hay and dust clung to the expensive material of her gown.

"She made me the man I am today, she gave me my son and I couldn't save her..." He paused to take another swing of the bottle and she took it away from him. They both froze as her hand covered his on the round glass surface.

"Granny is going to be pretty pissed off when she finds out some of her bottles are missing, she takes inventory very seriously," Regina informed him, trying to diffuse the growing tension.

"Might as well finish it all and give her a true reason to be angry," Robin reasoned, grasping for it again but she kept it out of reach.

"You're not even going to share? I'm sitting in the dirt, in the middle of the night, next to a drunk Thief; given the damages that could do to my reputation, I think I deserve some compensation," she reeled off, and drank directly from the bottle while he was trying to understand what she just said.

"Do you know what the worst part is though?" He asked, not bethering to reply to her last statement, having already enough trouble looking away from the bold creature by his side.

She looked at him with raised eyebrows, shaking her head no.

"I had to be reminded what today is. I woke up this morning and I didn't feel this awful ache like a knife was being twisted in my heart until I wanted to scream for mercy. It's only when Tuck and John asked me how I was feeling, and that they didn't mind looking after Roland to give me some time to myself that I remembered. My wife died three years ago because I couldn't protect her and I forgot about it," he confessed and he looked horrified at the notion.

She handed him the bottle back without comment, a bit stunned that he would confess something like that to her.

"I blame you to be honest," he added and she tensed, wary of where he was going with this. "You waltzed into my life, all regal and haughty and unattainable, and I thought there was no way that I could ever get two kind words out of you and why would I even ever bother trying? And then you saved my son, you tried to go alone on some sort of suicidal mission, thinking no one would care and you told me, however reluctantly, about your own son, and I saw something... someone different, someone who knows about loss like I do. So, yes, I blame you because I don't know if I'm drinking because I'm heartbroken over my wife's death or because I didn't remember what today is, and last year I wouldn't have had that problem," he elaborated, emptying the bottle with one last healthy swallow, and she watched him, her mouth hanging open slightly, repeatedly blinking because his words pronounced in that order made absolutely no sense, did they?

"I... I..." she attempted, gulping down the lump forming in her throat.

"Have I actually succeeded in making the Queen speechless? Not bad for a drunk thief," he commented and she clamped her mouth shut and snorted.

"As if you ever could. I was just trying to determine how much you would regret telling me this in the morning, when your mind clears," she tried to cover how troubled she was feeling by using sarcasm but her tone wasn't as biting as usual.

"I am not quite sure how much of this I am going to remember, but I'm sure you will be there to remind me about my ridiculous behaviour," Robin replied.

"Ye of little faith. I'm not that bad, am I?" Regina asked, with the barest hint of uncertainty in her voice, her upper body turning towards him a tad more and she realised how close they were sitting.

"No, absolutely not," he breathed, his eyes roaming over her face and settling on the scar on her upper lip.

She knew where this was going, they had a tendency to get all touchy-feely when inebriated it seemed, but it wasn't a good idea.

"Robin, you were a gentleman last time we were in this situation, and I'm sure that once you're feeling more like yourself you will realise how unwise this is."

"They say alcohol only reveal your true nature. What if this is what I really want?"

Regina closed her eyes, shocked that she could feel tears gathering behind her eyelids. "I know how it is to be with someone who can't express consent and I most certainly know what it is to be deprived of your consent. I don't want that ever again."

A thumb wiping away her fallen tears caused her to reopen her eyes.

"Does that mean what I think it does?" Robin asked, a soft expression on his face.

"It means that if anything ever happens between us, I don't want there to be any doubt that it is both our choice," she answered.

"Giving an outlaw ideas like that can be dangerous," he quipped, brushing his lips against hers but she moved her head back.

"I'm confident some sleep will erase all of this from your memories," she said, and in the next moment waved her hands and made him disappear in a cloud of purple smoke, sending him to his chambers.

She stayed where she was seated for a long while, She knew she had done the right thing, but then why did she feel so damn sad?

Her lips pursed at the thought that Snow would be proud of her, not that her stepdaughter would ever know about any of this. _You're learning, Regina_, she mused.

The next morning at breakfast, she saw how worn out the thief looked and how he was trying to hide his winces when he heard his son's high-pitched voice, and she teased him by speaking louder than usual when she said hello to Roland.

The boy hugged her once more, whispering in her ear that he knew she could do it. "Papa told John you saved him from his demons," he said, repeating without really understanding them words he probably caught while sneaking up his father and 'uncle'.

"Did he, now?" She asked, looking down at Robin who threw her a sheepish smile.

"What does that mean, Gina? Did you save Papa from a fearsome monster?" Roland gasped and Regina smiled.

"Something like that, my little knight," she answered. Yes sometimes memories could be as scary as the most awful monstrosity, especially if you were alone to face them, she added in her mind, and catching Robin's eyes, she had a feeling he knew exactly what she meant.

* * *

**Thoughts**?


	19. Missing Year prompt: Locking your heart

_Thanks for your continued support to these stories! It means so much to me! Your reviews make my day_

_From a prompt on tumblr : _Missing year OQ , Regina brings something back that belonged to Henry, she has it in her at all times, or near by. When it's misplaced she panics and breaks. Please and thank you :)

_Unbetaed, all mistakes are mine, I own nothing._

_Feels ahead, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

**Locking your heart away**

* * *

It kept her grounded, it reminded her why she had to sit through endless, useless councils, unworthy of her time and attention. She wore it either around a long chain so it was pressed right against her heart, or she held it in her fist, fiddling with it when one of the dwarves would throw a harsh remark her way, forcing herself not to react. She was doing all of this for _him_, murdering insulting peasants couldn't be part of her routine anymore.

A lock of Henry's baby hair, a reminder of the first time she had it cut, secreted in a pendant, over a picture of the day Regina had first brought him home. For years she had kept it in a box full of trinkets from her son's childhood, why carry it around when she had the real thing in the flesh, smiles lighting up his face each time he saw her, delighted squeals of "Mom" filling her ears?

It felt like a lifetime ago, and she already had several under her belt. She had summoned the locket in a somewhat unconscious manner as she had watched the yellow bug drawing away, taking her son away from her forever. She had wished for something to keep, something that wouldn't be destroyed along with the rest of Storybrooke, and she had felt the weight of the necklace in her pocket, giving her the last bit of strength necessary to undo her own curse and counter Pan's.

She had clung to it ever since, as she would a lifeline, and in a way it was. She opened the locket every morning and every night to gaze at the picture and gently stroke the soft hair. Her ritual, without fail, every day. She was doing this for him, for her baby boy, protecting the people he loved most, even if he did not remember them, and that was the only thought that made most days bearable, the only thing that pushed her to rise from her bed and face the world.

* * *

She was playing with the Thief's son when it happened.

Roland had made it a habit to grab her hand after breakfast, and at first she had had to control her instinct to withdraw it sharply, the resemblance between the little outlaw and another boy who once would come to her the same way, begging her to play, too keen for her to stand. She couldn't hurt Roland's feelings though and she would let him drag her away towards his newest adventure, with his father looming in the vicinity like some sort of guardian Angel.

Regina knew the archer was wary after her sleeping curse stunt for some reason, and he had an annoying way of showing up in the most unexpected places, with his infuriating dimpled smile, inquiring about her well being. She wasn't used to people caring so much about what happened to her, years spent alone or with only her son by her side, either ignored or outright hated, made her squint suspiciously at simple questions like "How are you?".

Yet, neither of the Locksley boys appeared to have noticed or had simply decided to disregard it, which she thought was more likely; Robin Hood was too observant for his own good, especially where it concerned the Queen.

It was one of those days, nothing out of the ordinary at first glance, just a chilly morning at the end of the autumn, with the sun playing hide-and-seek and Regina helping Roland riding the smallest poney she could find for him.

There was no warning, not even the sharp-eyed archer watching over them noticed the three rapidly approaching flying beasts. They crossed the shield surrounding the castle as if it wasn't even there, and Regina barely had time to seize Roland before he was unseated by the poney in a fit of panic.

Robin cried their names out while he fired several arrows in quick succession and Roland clung to her as she curved over him, grasping at her hair, her coat, anything, shrieking in fear. She felt some strands of hair tearing away as she tried to turn to see what was going on, Roland's grip on them too tight.

She rolled them to the floor when she felt the powerful flap of wings moving the air way too close, her shoulder hitting the ground hard, making her groan in pain over Roland's head as she held it against her chest. She was so busy trying to calm the boy down enough so she could focus and summon her magic that she never noticed when the chain around her neck broke and fell beneath them.

An arrow flew over their heads and embedded itself in one of the beast's throat just as it was towering over them and Regina moved to her side, bitting her bottom lip till she drew blood at the pressure it put on her injured shoulder. The monkey collapsed right where they were lying a moment ago and Roland's screams started anew.

Robin took him from her arms, shushing him expertly, and helped her up, steering them away from the morbid sight.

"That's twice you have protected my son from those monsters, Milady," Robin stated with admiration and a watery smile pulling at his lips as he hugged his son close.

"And twice you have saved me from them, Thief. I might start to think you can be of some use around here," Regina replied, but her tone wasn't as biting as usual and she was gazing at Roland with soft eyes.

"I will need to work harder if you're still unsure about my usefulness," Robin said, not taking his eyes off her face.

"You do that," she told him, walking by them swiftly, ruffling Roland's hair softly as she did. "I need to reinforce the shield, I think the green thorn in our side sent those to test our defences. I might have underestimated her abilities," the Queen admitted begrudgingly. "It will not happen again."

* * *

"No, no, no, no, it has to be here, it has to be here somewhere," Regina kept muttering as she tore her rooms apart, sending the content of heavy boxes and drawers to the floor, shredding hangings, carpets, any piece of fabric that could be concealing her most prized possession.

"IT HAS TO BE HERE!" She exploded, falling on her knees, holding in each hand a piece of an old dress that had the misfortune of lying there, heaving as if she had just run ten miles.

"Milady?" Someone, and she knew exactly which someone since there was only one who dared to use that title, called from the doorway.

"Go away, Thief, I don't have time for you," Regina rebuffed him, throwing the pieces away and getting up to continue her frantic search. She went through her night table for the tenth time and sent it flying when it failed to deliver.

"Milady," Robin tried again but she was too far gone, her patience drawing thin.

"I swear if I have to tell you to go away again, I will make you, and believe me I won't use the door," she spat ferociously, throwing a small statue towards him and he ducked to avoid it, wincing when it crashed against a wall in the corridor.

"If you would just stop for a minute and listen, I think I have found something of yours," Robin exclaimed and she froze. He opened his hand and let the pendant dangle from his fingers.

Regina gasped and strode quickly to snatch it from him. She turned away and pressed it against her heart, breathing deeply, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You still haven't learned to say thank you, have you?" the outlaw remarked, her distress unnoticed until she swirled round and his eyes soften as he took her in. He glanced at the mess she had made, at her knuckles turning white as she clutched the locket as if daring him to take it from her, at the film of tears making her eyes shine. "I apologize, I did not mean to sound so callous, this is obviously an object of great value to you. I found it under the monkey I killed earlier and I thought I shall return it," he tried but she remained mute, staring at him and he squirmed uncomfortably. "I should go," he announced, spinning on his heels before stopping dead in his tracks when she finally spoke.

"It's the only thing of my son that I could bring. It's all that remains. Eleven years reduced to this," she said, the last part more to herself than directed at him.

He felt a painful pang as he imagined a similar situation with Roland. He had no idea how she was able to go on when the mere thought was for him intolerable. It was her reality, every day.

Before he even realised what he was doing, he had covered the distance separating and was embracing her against him.

Regina was paralysed for several long moments, unable to process what was happening. It soon became clear to her that she could either give in to his warm enfold or use her magic to force him to release her because he didn't seem to be going anywhere.

She sighed and let her forehead rest on his shoulder, only allowing a few tears to fall and she closed her eyes, the image of Henry imprinted on her eyelids, and for the first time since she once more set foot in this godforsaken land, the memory of her son didn't feel as painful as usual.

* * *

Hearing your thought would be lovely!


	20. Camelot prompt: A Spoonful Of Sugar

_Thank you Lala Kate for sending this prompt, have some fluffy sugary fluff in response darling :D Dimples Queen and Hood Mills family in this one mainly. Set in Camelot, after 5x02, unbetaed, all mistakes are mine._

_Prompt: Hood/Mills and/or Charming/Mills family: When the food in Camelot isn't as good as Regina's cooking._

* * *

**A Spoonful Of Sugar**

* * *

She notices it as early as their second day in Camelot. Another feast and Roland and Robin- miraculously so and she is still not sure if she can believe that he is really alive and well, no conditions, no strings attached, and she keeps looking at him every few moments just to be sure- are sitting by her side and it feels like the infamous Missing Year all over again, except Henry is on her left, and it makes all the difference in her world. This time the looks thrown her way aren't ones of fear or suspicion or distrust but of wonder and awe, she is the Saviour here and the notion is still so very strange to her.

Desserts are being served, and just as for the rest, there are too many to choose from but she smiles as she watches Roland's eyes lighting up at the sight of an apple pie. Both she and Robin chuckle when he eagerly takes the first bite with wide, avid eyes and they go back to their own pastries. She turns back to him however when the boy seems slow to take a second morsel and her eyebrows raise at the sight of the frown marring his little face as he chews slowly.

"Is something wrong, sweetheart?" She asks but Roland shrugs, still munching, still frowning. Once the first bite is finally swallowed, the little outlaw gives a plate a push, uninterested in more. It's so out of character that Robin and Henry stop eating to look at the boy. Regina has three ravenous boys, can never put up together enough food to fill their bottomless stomachs, at least on the very few occasions she had been able to have them all together sitting at one table, so when one of them refuses to eat, it is cause for concern. Now that she thinks about it, even Robin and Henry don't appear to have gobbled down the various tasty dishes as they usually do.

"Roland, don't you like the food here?" She asks and the boy shrugs again and mumbles something they can't hear. "Speak up, honey."

"It doesn't taste like yours. I like yours better," he answers and she is about to say that she doesn't see what the problem is, it may be a bit blander to what she likes but Storybrooke has given her access to all sorts of spices and condiment that the people from Camelot and Enchanted Forest have never tried, but Henry and Robin both give approving nods and she looks at them quizzically.

"You've got to admit, love, that you can do much better than what their cook has to offer," Robin declares, grinning, squeezing her shoulder.

"Yeah, Mom, even Granny has been sniffing at her plates suspiciously and she's been serving frozen lasagnas for years," Henry adds, nodding towards the end of the table where the old woman is indeed getting a whiff of a piece of chocolate cake and then looks at it as if it has personally offended her.

A thought strikes Regina as she looks at the werewolf, and she is forming a plan in her head while trying to stay focused on the conversation. "I think it has more to do with her distrustful nature than the food itself," she says and receives three snorts in response.

When Roland starts to fall asleep at the table she sends the boys to bed and approaches Granny. She is surprised at how little convincing it takes, probably because the other woman is too stunned that Regina actually bothered to ask for permission to refuse her, but whatever her reasons are it works for Regina.

* * *

Early the next morning, she slips from Robin's embrace -and isn't it absolutely ridiculous that they were given separate chambers when there is no way in hell they will ever let anything keep them apart ever again, especially not this King they're still not sure they can trust?-, has to spent several minutes loosening the hold of his arms around her to do so. She finds the way he scrunches his face absolutely adorable- though there is no way she will admit to it- when there is no one for him to hold anymore and he burrows deeper into the warm spot she has left behind.

She tiptoes to the next door and wakes Roland with soft caresses and whispered words until the boy blinks up at her, confused because the first rays of sunlight are barely out and he is an early riser but not that early, and he blinks until his eyelids are less heavy and he can focus on her face without it being blurry, and then he smiles at her.

"I had an idea and I think you're going to like it my little knight," she tells me, booping his nose making him giggle. "Get dressed, we're going on an adventure."

They walk down the corridors in silence although Roland has to keep an hand pressed to his mouth to stifle the occasional excited giggle that threatens to escape. Regina has thought about including Henry too but ultimately she decided to surprise her son and Robin.

This is for Roland, little Roland who has been tossed around between worlds for weeks, months now, who has been lied to and threatened, even if he doesn't remember all of it, and who still smiles and laughs and can be amused by the smallest things, and she may be the most resilient but she has a serious contender in this dimpled wide-eyed child.

They are out of the castle and heading towards the dinner now and Roland is more and more amazed with each step they take. When they finally enter Granny's, Regina leads him right to the kitchen.

"What do you say we show Camelot what real food tastes like?" She asks him and his huge smile splits his face as he eagerly nods.

They set to work, Granny gave her free reign over her kitchen for the morning and Regina is taking full advantage of it. She congratulates herself for putting a preservation spell on the various ingredients in stock when they landed.

Apple pies, waffles, pancakes, chocolate cakes, anything Roland asks for, they make, and when Robin and Henry burst in mid-morning looking quite relieved to have finally found them, they are covered in flour and sugar, Roland has war paint made in chocolate smeared on his face, they are both smiling and laughing and there is enough food on the table to feed a small army.

They gather their little party, and even some of the castle's inhabitants come by to see what the commotion is about, and all their hard work is devoured in a mere minutes, people calling out to each other to try this rather than that, and Roland is wolfing down his plate as if he had been starving for weeks.

Robin encircles her waist, squeezing her against him, kissing her cheek, whispering "Thank you for doing that for him," in her ear, Henry grins at her widely while offering the girl from the ball, whose name he still hasn't told her, half of his own chocolate chips pancake, and Granny is looking at her approvingly, even Grumpy asks if this will be a recurring occurrence.

It's not much, she thinks, but for a few moments they forget about the darkness looming over them, they forget that they don't know anything about this new, strange place or its people, they don't know who to trust, they don't know what the cost of finding out will be. For a few moments, her dysfunctional family is happy and she clings to those precious memories while she can.

* * *

**Would love to hear your thoughts.**


	21. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

_Thank you for your reviews on the Camelot prompt, I'm glad you liked the cute, and since I was in that kind of mood here is the little present I posted for Lala Kate's birthday completed with the continuation Verkaiking asked for._

_Regal Believer, Dimple Queen, Hood Mills family &amp; Outlaw Queen feels, unbetaed, all mistakes are mine._

* * *

**Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious**

* * *

It was his new obsession, at four-and-a-half years old -and the 'and a half' was extremely important, thank you very much-, preschooler Henry Daniel Mills had become completely enamoured with Disney's most magical nanny, not that Regina could really blame him. It was so difficult to find a Disney movie she couldn't relate to in some way that she was very, very glad he had chosen this one.

She was already having a hard enough time keeping him away from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and her little boy would never see it if she could prevent it, she had even considered banishing it from town entirely, the outrage she had felt the first and only time she had stumbled upon that atrocity still quite present and intense, but then the questions it would raise dissuaded her, she didn't think that 'traumatic childhood memories' trigger would quite cut it.

So, yes, Mary Poppins was a great choice in her book, except for one tiny little detail: the song, because of course out of the 16 songs in this movie, Henry had to choose the one with the toughest word she ever had to pronounce. She wasn't quite satisfied with her very first attempt at singing along but Henry's laugh and the way he had rolled on the floor, unable to stop his giggles, in a merciless mocking, made it worth it somehow.

After that she had watched and rewatched the scene in secret until she had gotten it right. She would never forget her little Prince's amazed expression when she was able to lower the sound and replace Julie Andrews, and she felt a bit ashamed at how much she had cursed the woman during her 'training sessions'.

"Again, Mommy, again," he had chanted, and for hours the song was on repeat until her voice was hoarse.

For weeks, he couldn't go to sleep unless she sung it to him, she even learned to say it backwards to his utter delight. He was proud as a peacock that she could do it as well as Mary Poppins herself.

When the phase passed and he found himself a new hero, one she couldn't quite compete with, not now that she didn't have her powers anymore, she couldn't help the sadness she felt, but she kept those memories close to her heart. Especially when a few years later, she found herself wishing for a Mary Poppins intervention as her relationship with her son took a turn for the worst.

These were the only ones she couldn't bring herself to share with Emma Swan when she sent her with Henry across the town line, they were theirs, hers and her son's, no one would ever claim them.

Almost two years later, when they were reunited and living in the mansion again, with Robin and Roland, Henry introduced the boy to the special brand of magic from the Victorian's age. Regina had just rocked the new addition to their family to sleep and was closing the door to the nursery, when she faintly heard the tune coming from the living-room and recognized it immediately.

She descended the stairs silently and listened as her son told Roland that 'Mom can sing it just as well as Mary Poppins' and the boy gasped and turned to her when she joined them.

"Is it true, Regina? Can you really?"

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," was her reply, the word forming easily on her tongue even if she hadn't said it in years, and Roland gaped at her.

"Again, Regina, again," he said, and tears formed in her eyes when she caught Henry's gaze, his knowing smile letting her know that he was more than aware of the struggles of the past few weeks and it was his way to help.

Once more the house resounded with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke's voices and Regina found that she couldn't wait until the tiny redhead naping upstairs could join the show. She could do it, she thought, for her children she could do anything, including letting that innocent baby into her heart, no more reservations, no more doubts.

"_But better use it carefully_

_Or it could change your life_.

_Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious._"

* * *

Confused going on astonished was probably a good way to describe how Robin felt when he got home that evening and found his love and sons singing and dancing in tune with the movie playing on the TV. Or rather Regina and Henry were engaged in a duet with Roland clapping enthusiastically.

He took off his shoes and coat, put them away neatly in the closet before joining his family in the living-room, making his boy squeal as he seized him and raised him in the air to take his place on the couch. He sat Roland on his lap, smiling widely at the two performing artists. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Regina like this, so visibly at ease and carefree and, dare he say it, happy. She returned his grin with one of her own, her whole face illuminated by it.

"Again, Regina, sing it again for Daddy," Roland begged, joining his hands together under his chin, widening his eyes and pouting his lips in a comical way.  
"I would certainly love to have a chance to hear my Lady sing, if she would be so inclined," Robin said, resting his head on his son's, imitating his pout, and Regina rolled her eyes, laughing at their nonsense. She indicated to Henry to rewind to the beginning of the scene and they started again.

_It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious_

_Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious_

_If you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious_

_Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious_

Robin's eyebrows flew up as he tried to make sense of the very strange and very long word the whole song seemed to be about. He ignored it though to focus on Regina. He had never heard her sing anything but soft lullabies for Roland in the Enchanted Forest, and more recently, their baby girl and he was frankly surprised at how different her voice sounded. She seemed to be having the time of her life.

Father and son applauded loudly when the duet finished with an extravagant bow.

The rest of the evening was spent peacefully and rather joyfully. He and Henry took over the preparations for dinner as Regina fed the baby and Robin found himself quite distracted as the sight never failed to take his breath away. He knew how much she took it on herself to tolerate Zelena's pregnancy but he also knew she loved the little girl it had given them. The conflict he had felt since her sister's deception had been revealed, she was only too aware of, and it had united them in a way he would have never expected. He loved her even more for that.

He entered the nursery, closing the door behind him, and encircled her waist in his arms, his hand slipping between her elbow and the baby's head.

"Super cali fragi…" he sighed, giving up. "I don't even know how you did it and even less what it means," he whispered in her ear.

She smiled. "It's something to say when you have nothing to say."

"When have you ever found yourself with nothing to say?" He countered.

"It's been known to happen on a few very special occasions," she replied, brushing her lips against his.

"Hmmm, care to enlighten me?" He asked.

"Robin, there is a child in the room," she chided him playfully.

"Well, maybe it's time we go back to ours then. Tell me, does this magical nanny's powers only work on children or can their fathers enjoy them as well?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"


	22. There is nothing like a mother's embrace

_A/N: For my darling twin **Fiadorable's** birthday, if you haven't read her work yet you definitely should: a Missing Year story where Regina meets Robin's parents and finds that she has quite a lot in common with her Thief. Part of the Nightmares verse (see chapters 6, 13 &amp; 18) but can stand on its own._

_I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think._

* * *

**There is nothing like a mother's embrace**

Regina found him without having really looked for him. Lords from all over the realm were arriving that day invited by the Charmings for a great Council about the newly rebuilt kingdom and its neighbours' safety and the already overcrowded castle was buzzing and bustling with the added activity and the comings and goings of its inhabitants as they tried to have everything ready in time.

She had no intention of participating in any of it and she'd chosen to retreat to the courtyard that was the furthest away from where the preparations were going strong. It seemed that Robin had had the same thought.

She thought about him more and more as 'Robin' these days instead of the various synonyms of "Thief" and "Outlaw" she had come up with since they met, and she wasn't sure she liked what it meant. He had certainly seen more of the woman behind the corseted dresses and elaborate hairstyles than she had ever let anyone else peek at, apart from her own son, but that was a whole other can of worms she couldn't even think about opening when she was still trying to keep herself together months after letting Henry go.

He was seated on the stone staircase leading to the courtyard, watching his son play with the Friar. They were fast approaching winter, the colder air forcing them to add warmer layers of clothes outside, the hours of sunlight diminishing with each day that passed. She shivered when the chilly wind hit some exposed skin and wrapped her cape closely around herself.

"I thought I would be the only one trying to avoid this messy affair. Aren't Merry Men supposed to like putting their noses in all kind of businesses, mostly those not concerning them?" She asked as a greeting, frowning when she caught his blank gaze, blue eyes appearing dull, lacking their usual spark.

"I will take a pass on this one," he replied, still looking ahead.

She didn't add anything, just stared at him, puzzled by his attitude until he sighed.

"Have you seen the guest list?" He asked, finally turning towards her, and she tried to ignore the disappointment she felt when he failed to look her up and down in that appreciative and quite flattering way of his.

Her brows furrowed deeper. "I must admit I didn't. I wasn't particularly interested in the first place."

"Well, if you had, you probably would have noticed the name of one Robert of Locksley on it," he told her, the first flicker of emotion appearing as his eyes hardened and his jaw clenched.

"Your father," she guessed. She was aware of the legends surrounding Robin Hood in the world without magic: the son of a noble who had fled the life he was destined to, to live as an outlaw stealing from the rich to give to the poor. There had to be more than that though, there was always more.

Robin nodded. "He wasn't exactly what you would call a good man. I never wanted to be like him. There was a time I was almost worse," he admitted quietly and she felt the familiar icy sensation coursing through her veins. She could relate only too well to this need to escape a parent's legacy and ending up in an even darker place than they had.

"I find that hard to believe," she said, her voice fainter than she would have wanted, sitting gracefully beside him.

"But you should believe it. There was a time my men and I could give your guards a run for their money," he countered, looking down, his cheeks colouring with shame.

"What changed you?" She asked for the sake of it, but she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"My wife. Meeting Marian, being put in my place by a woman a head shorter than I but with much more nobility than any of my father's titles could have ever bought," he had a wistful smile and a twinkle in his eyes as he spoke of Roland's mother.

"She sounded like quite the woman," Regina said. They hadn't talked much about his wife, apart from what he had let slip while drunk on the anniversary of her death, they had usually skirted round the subject. Some part of her that had spent years buried under layers and layers of anger and darkness was glad he had been saved when she couldn't be.

"She was. She wanted me to patch things up with my parents, especially with my mother, she wanted her to meet Roland but I could never bring myself to do it. _He _doesn't deserve to be in my son's life," his tone was vehement and she wondered if he was trying to convince her or himself.

"Your parents don't know you have a son?" She asked, smiling and waving at the boy in question, who had finally noticed her and tried to come over to them, but the Friar snatched him up and threw him in the air, causing him to erupt in giggles and squeals until he was breathless.

Robin shook his head, both at their antics and in reply to her question. "They don't and _he _won't ever hear about him, not if I can prevent it."

"What about your mother?"

He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face before combing both through his hair, resting his elbows on his knees.

"For a long time I blamed her for staying with him, for not trying to leave, even after I did. I begged her to come with me that day but she wouldn't."

She looked between him and Roland, who was still trying to escape from Tuck's clutches. "And now?"

He raised his head, confused.

"You said 'for a long time'. So it probably means you see things differently now," she explained, smirking at the disbelieving expression he threw her. "I do pay attention to what you say every now and then," she added and he rolled his eyes, deciding not to dignify that part of her statement with an answer.

"I realised that it was probably her way of protecting me, of stopping him from coming after me," Robin told her and the sadness in his eyes tugged at something inside her. "I dishonored his name, I spat on my inheritance, I shudder to think of what would have happened if I had fled with his wife as well."

She gulped, she had often wondered the same thing after Tinkerbell had stumbled into her life all glowing with self-righteousness and pixie dust. What would have happened if she had left Leopold to go and be with the man with the lion tattoo? The various possible answers had woken her up in a cold sweat on more than one occasion.

"Sometimes it takes more courage to stay than to leave," she whispered more to herself than to him but he heard her nonetheless and nodded.

They stayed silent for a moment until Roland outran the Friar and crashed into Regina, curls disheveled and dimples on display.

"Have you come to play with me, Gina?" He asked breathlessly, flashing her with a huge smile.

"Not yet, Roland," she answered. "I wanted to say hello. I have to do some very boring Queen things today and I couldn't go without seeing my favourite Knight."

He puffed up his chest proudly. "I could come with you so you wouldn't be bored," he said and her heart melted.

"That is very thoughtful of you Roland, but I would feel much better if I knew at least one of us was having fun," she told him, chucking him under the chin. "And when I come back later, I may have a surprise for you but I can't say anything for now," she murmured in his ear, pressing her index finger against his lips and he nodded eagerly to show her he had understood.

She smiled warmly at him and rose up.

"Leaving so soon?" Robin inquired, getting up as well.

"No matter how much I would love to stay away, I will never hear the end of it from the Charmings if I don't participate. United front and all that. Also who knows what havoc they can wreak if I leave them to their own devices?" Regina deadpanned and was rewarded by a sincere grin.

"We would all be lost if it weren't for you," he affirmed.

"I like to think so."

* * *

She stopped by her rooms on her way to the council chamber to get changed. The relatively simple dress and cape with her hair flying free would not do for this dreadful meeting, she had to be on top of her game.

A few snaps of her fingers later and she was ready to confront the world.

The click of her heels resounded in the corridor as she approached the opened door and the chamberlain straightened up, flustered by her unexpected presence. He opened his mouth to announce her but she raised her hand and his jaw clamped shut.

She stayed in the shadows by the entrance observing the scene. Her eyes settled on Snow and Charming who were speaking to an older couple.

"Sir Locksley, it is a pleasure to have you among us. Your support at the Sherwood Forest's border has been greatly appreciated," David greeted, inclining his head in response to the man's bow.

"I admit I was rather curious to see this reunited Kingdom with my own eyes. All kinds of rumours fly around, I even heard that my own son had joined you," the man replied in a suave voice that made Regina gag.

"You heard wrong, your son has long since left to go back to his beloved woods," she intervened, striding forward, relishing in the gasps that greeted her appearance. She knew what they all thought, this was the closest she had looked to the Evil Queen in a while. She had chosen to wear one of her figure hugging red velvet dress that seemed to fit her like a second skin and had completed the look with dark and bold makeup and a high ponytail that she flipped on her front over her right shoulder.

All men bowed and all their ladies curtsied hurriedly and she felt an intense repulsion at this forced act of respect.

She stopped by Snow's side -smirking when she saw the Princess elbow her husband so he would shut his hanging mouth-, in front of Robin's father and was glad she had decided to put on her highest heels. She knew from whom the thief had inherited his height, and without the stilettos she would have had to raise her head to look him in the eyes, which would have been unacceptable.

"Your Majesty, it's an honour to see you again," Robert of Locksley said, raking his eyes over her figure with a leer that sent unpleasant shivers down her spine. It was that particular look that reminded Regina of when and where she had seen that man before: on her wedding day, during the reception, when she'd had to stand for hours beside the King to receive the congratulations and well wishes of every people who mattered in the Kingdom and beyond. That man had stood out, every single words he had pronounced had been layered with disgusting innuendos and he had sent a conniving smile to her new husband when she had blushed with uneasiness.

More than him though, she remembered his wife. They had barely spoken but the blank mask of the older woman had slipped for a brief moment when both their husbands were too interested in their own discussion to notice them and she had sent her the saddest look Regina had ever seen. It hadn't been pity exactly, more like an acknowledgment of what Regina's life would be like for the foreseeable future, and the young Queen had felt like crying, she never wanted to become like this woman, a silent puppet whose every thoughts and moves were directed by her husband without a chance to escape.

The mere idea had terrified her and it must have shown because Lady Locksley had taken her hand in hers and the warm contact had grounded her. A short moment of real human contact and there would be so few in the years to come that it had stayed with Regina to this day. The woman had barely changed, just a few more gray hair maybe, a few more lines on her face and Regina could easily understand their presence, being without news of her son for so long must have been torture.

"It has been a long time since we saw you last. The circumstances were quite different then," Regina retorted, plastering a smile on her face.

"Your Majesty has a good memory but then I expected nothing less."

"Some things are rather difficult to forget, no matter how much we wish we could," this time the coldness in her tone couldn't be ignored and the smirk on the man's face froze, his eyes turned to steel.

Snow sensed the growing danger and put an hand on her former stepmother's arm to attract her attention. "Regina, we didn't think you would come. We are glad you could join us," the girl beamed at her and the Lockleys excused themselves to go sit at the table.

"I changed my mind. It's been known to happen," Regina shrugged, not taking her eyes away from Robin's parents.

"Why did you lie to them about their son? It's Robin, isn't it? If they made all this journey to see him…" Snow started but Regina didn't let her finish.

"Do you remember what happened the last time you assumed to know a person's relationship with their parents better than they did themselves?" The Queen asked the Princess, who gulped and dropped her gaze to the floor, nodding silently. "Do keep that in mind the next time you get this kind of idea. The world doesn't revolve around you, dear, you don't have to be told everything," she walked to her seat, leaving the princely couple behind.

Regina barely listened to a word said during the council and the few she heard almost caused her to yawn. She was too focused on trying to find a way to talk to Lady Locksley alone without attracting her husband's unwanted attention. The solution suddenly hit her and she stifled a grin at its simplicity. She tapped her fingers on the edge of the table discreetly, sending an electric current towards the older woman.

Lady Locksley soon frowned, touching her forehead as the current sent strange, unpleasant sensations pulsing through her skull. It wasn't exactly painful, nothing like typical headaches or migraines could be but it made her dizzy. The suddenness surprised her, she was used to her head hurting for various reasons and it usually took hours for them to built up to anything remotely similar. She raised her eyes and caught two brown orbs staring intensely at her, closely observing her reactions and she understood that the Queen had caused it, why though she couldn't say.

She put her hand on her husband's arm and spoke up to the assembly. "I apologize but I think I will go and lay down for a while, I suddenly feel rather faint."

Just as she had expected the Queen rose up from her seat. "I will accompany you to your room," she said, rolling her eyes at the various expressions of disbelief the others threw her way. "I couldn't be more bored with this meeting as it is," she added, bright red lips curling in disdain.

They left together, Lady Locksley marveling at the younger woman's ability to stay upright and walk so gracefully given her attire, and Regina focusing on her spell until they were out of sight.

"Are we going to pretend you are taking me to my room or will you tell me what is going on?" Robin's mother asked.

Regina was surprised that she seemed more curious than scared to be trapped with the Evil Queen and it made her lose her concentration. The moment she released her magical hold she could feel the other woman's relief, her whole posture relaxed.

"This is quite an effective and annoying little spell you have there, your Majesty," she said. "Will you answer my question?"

Regina studied her for a long moment, pondering whether or not she was doing the right thing. "Before I do, I would like you to promise that no matter what you hear or see, your husband will never find out," she said grimly.

"It sounds rather ominous, you will forgive me for being cautious," the woman frowned, her forehead creasing at the Queen's seriousness. She still remembered the girl she met all those years ago, but a long time had passed and the things she had heard…

"I wish you no harm, Lady Locksley, and I think you will be glad to see what I want to show you but you have to give me your word," Regina swallowed with difficulty, it was hard to even think about having to rely on someone's promise to ensure the safety of people she had come to care about. She didn't have the best track record with these kind of things.

Lady Locksley stayed silent, her eyes sweeping over the Queen, searching for a sign of what this was all about, what could be so important that the most fearsome woman in all of the Enchanted Forest would plead with her for secrecy. She held the intense gaze of the powerful sorceress and could see the worry and the doubt lying there. She sighed.

"Please call me Helena, and I promise not to reveal anything I see or hear to my husband," she vowed at last.

Regina took a deep, steadying breath and inclined her head. "Very well... Helena. Follow me."

She led them to the courtyard and then griped Helena's forearm, stopping them before they could reach the stairs. "I lied when I said that your son was gone. He did help us take back the castle and he has been here ever since. It was the safest place for his Men… and his young boy," Regina revealed, watching Helena's eyes fill with tears as she took it all in.

"His...boy?" She stuttered, pressing a hand over her mouth in wonder. "I have a grandson?"

Regina gave her a faint smile. "You do, his name is Roland and you couldn't find a bravest and sweetest 4-years-old if you tried."

Helena half laughed half sobbed in reply.

"Would you like to meet him?" Regina asked, and took it as a yes when Helena could only squeeze her hand tightly, trying to control her overwhelming emotions.

They walked a few steps further and appeared at the top of the staircase.

"Queen Gina," Roland yelled as soon as he saw her, running to them and up the stairs, his forest green cape flying behind him. He clung to her legs, looking up at her. She bent to take him in her arms, thus able to keep her balance better, years of practice at carrying a child in various impractical heels coming into play. "Did you bring me my surprise?" The child asked eagerly.

"I did but maybe we should wait for your father," she answered, looking down in the courtyard to see Robin approaching.

"Roland, what did I say about running off like that?" He demanded sternly, ascending the stairs.

"But Papa, it is Gina, you don't make the Queen wait," the boy replied seriously, shaking his head at his father's daftness.

"I can see it is," Robin said slowly, taking her in for the first time, eyes lingering on the curves accentuated by the tantalizing dress she was wearing and he found himself robbed of speech.

"Robin," Helena whispered faintly, unable to take her eyes away from the son she hadn't seen in years. She rose her hand to his cheek and stroke it gently. "Is it really you?"

"Mother?" Robin exclaimed before letting out a huff as the air was squeezed out of his lungs from the tightness of his mother's embrace.

"My darling boy, I missed you so much," Helena cried into her son's chest, her sobs intensifying when she felt his arms surround her.

Robin had looked helpless for a moment, completely blindsided by this unexpected reunion, but he had then returned her enfold.

"Gina, who is this lady?" Roland asked Regina softly, playing with her ponytail, as they watched the moving scene.

"She is my surprise, sweetheart," she replied. "This is your grandmother."

"I have a grandmother?" And he sounded as surprised about it as the woman herself had been when she learned about his existence.

Helena turned towards them. "You do, darling, and I am so very happy to meet you."

The two hit it off spectacularly but then given Roland's joyful nature and Helena's desire to make up for lost time it was no surprise, she was hanging to his every word and Roland was absolutely delighted to have found such a fascinated companion.

Regina and Robin stood in silent side by side for a long while, observing them, until he turned to her, a disturbingly expressionless look on his face that made her uneasy.

"You think that I overstepped and you are trying to stop yourself from yelling at me?" She hazarded.

"If I wanted to yell at you, I wouldn't hesitate. No, I'm trying to understand why you would do something like this," he retorted, taking a step closer to her and she tensed. "I think...you care and you're terrified someone will notice," he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with the cool air.

Regina scoffed, trying to hide her turmoil. "I am not afraid of anything, and especially not of what people think about me."

"If you say so. Anyway, I want to thank you for managing this. I couldn't have and it would have been a shame to deprive Roland of this chance to meet his grandmother," he said, a genuine smile on his face showing off his dimples.

"She is a good person. Turns out we met before, your parents and I," she revealed.

"You did?" Robin asked, surprised.

"A long time ago, during my wedding reception. I understand what you meant about your father, it's no wonder the King and he got along so well. Your mother though, she was one of the very few people who understood exactly what I would face," Regina answered, looking at Helena doting on Roland, her mind lost in her memories.

Robin could only stare. "I left on the eve of their departure for the White Kingdom, for the royal wedding, I couldn't pretend anymore."

"You took the opportunity I never had. You got away," she said. "Good for you," and she walked away, joining the grandmother and grandson, with Roland immediately claiming seat on her lap, still babbling happily.

* * *

During the two days stay of the castle's guests, they managed another secret meeting in the Queen's gardens, a secluded enough place where they knew they wouldn't be bothered and Regina distracted Roland while Robin and Helena took time to talk and build back their relationship.

"I would have loved to have met Roland's mother," Helena stated, ending the moment of comfortable silence that had fallen over them. "But I'm glad you found someone so genuinely interested in his well-being." She smiled as Roland defended the Queen against some imaginary monster and she played her role of damsel in distress perfectly.

Robin frowned, confused. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"Well, you and the Queen? These two are rather close and I assumed…" she paused. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I just thought… the way you talk to each other, one could easily…" she stopped altogether, looking embarrassed.

"It's not… You're not wrong but it's much more complicated than that, she is much more complicated. Things are…" he exhaled. "She doesn't let people close easily, apart from Roland, and even that hasn't always been a given. Some days we banter and laugh together and others she looks like she is one second away from burning me to a crisp."

"She certainly has fire, no one can deny that, but Robin I know a thing or two about this kind of woman, and usually it is a carefully crafted façade that has been build up for so long they don't even know how to take it down anymore. I have seen the way you look at her, and even though it's been years since we last saw each other, I know you. You have seen something in her. Maybe it is worth fighting for," Helena encouraged her son.

"I'm not sure she is going to let me," he replied.

"You won't know if you don't try," his mother insisted.

* * *

That night, the last before their departure in the morning, Helena sat next to Regina while Lord Locksley was busy socializing and making profitable alliances.

"I can't ever say how grateful I am to you for giving me the chance to see my son and meet my grandson. Thank you, your Majesty," Helena told her, her tone warm, tears prickling in her eyes, enfolding the younger woman's hands in hers as she had done the very first time they met.

"Regina, I prefer Regina," she replied, squeezing Helena's hands.

"Thank you, Regina," Helena reiterated. "If you don't find it too forward of me, I would like to ask a favour."

Regina indicated for her to continue.

"Would you mind looking after them for me? I know Robin would claim that he is more than capable of taking care of himself and Roland but I do worry, I have spent years worrying. I would feel better if I knew someone was watching out for them while I can't."

Regina had a lump in her throat, _Please take care of him for me,_ she remembered thinking as she had watched a yellow bug take her one chance at happiness away from her forever.

Helena sensed the Queen's distress and stroked her arms gently. "I'm sorry, I should have known. The way you are with Roland, the way he takes to you, I suspected but... You have a child too, don't you? A son?"

Regina nodded again, unable to form any word this time.

"But he isn't here with you, is he?"

Regina shook her head. "I had to let him go," she forced out.

Helena's heart broke for her, she knew only too well the pain this could cause and nothing could make it better, so she did the only thing she thought might help and embraced the younger woman against her. She waited until Regina relaxed in her arms. "I know everything looks bleak and hopeless right now and I won't give you platitudes, but there is more for you out there if you let yourself see it."

Regina inhaled sharply and pulled away. Helena smiled sadly. "It goes against all your instincts, believe me I know, but do try and you'll see," she added, wiping a lonely tear falling along Regina's right cheek.

"I don't understand why you would want me of all people to look after your family," Regina said, leaning into the warm touch.

"Because I remember the young woman who had no wish to stand by the King's side, who couldn't accept this fate. You did what all of us only ever dreamed of doing but never could. And yes, you have done reprehensible, horrible things along the way but I know you will protect Roland no matter what. Between you and me, I don't think your stepdaughter realises what her life would have been if the King had lived. Even in your hate and anger, you still gave her a better chance at finding love than she could have hoped for otherwise. I couldn't ask for anyone better to care for the two most important persons in my life," Helena explained in a passionate tone, beaming at Regina, who still found it hard to believe.

"Don't make me into some kind of martyr, Helena, I have never been a victim, I don't regret what I did."

"I never thought that. However, I wish I had been more like you. Robin may believe that it was some sort of heroic streak that made me stay by his father's side but we both know better. Robert is the only man I have ever known, and even if he is not a kind and loving man, he still gave me my son, he provided me with a comfortable life, a safe life if not an happy one. I was too scared to leave it all behind, even if it meant being with my son. It may have protected him but my intentions were never that noble. You were much braver than I ever were, you will guide Roland on the right path."

That this woman would have that kind of faith in her floored Regina completely, she needed to get away.

"I will look after them for you," she said, effectively putting an end to the conversation and stood up. Helena held onto her hand until she couldn't and sent a silent prayer that the lonely Queen would one day open her eyes.

* * *

_Happy birthday twin :*_


	23. Camelot: Let's give them a show

_A/N: Just realised I forgot to share this here as well: received a tumblr prompt from Chelseadaggz: "Could you please write something with Regina and Robin getting caught (either that be something as innocent as making out or more I don't mind, you choose ;)) but instead of blushing and pulling apart etc. they're tired of being interrupted and so just continue despite the other person standing there." and it became sexually frustrated OQ in Camelot._

_Unbetaed, all mistakes are mine, smut-ish, I hope you enjoy._

* * *

**Let's give them a show**

* * *

If she had known that performing the Saviour's role would mean that all her painfully earned time with Robin would be constantly interrupted by various requests and questions that couldn't possibly wait a few more hours, or even better the next morning, Regina would have most certainly refrained.

It was one thing that Roland would knock at their door in the middle of the night because this strange place filled with strange and unfamiliar people scared him, and he needed the comfort of their embrace to go back to sleep; but it was another that the Charmings or the bookworm would barge in because of a so-called breakthrough they felt the pressing need to share without consideration of what she and Robin could possibly be engaged in.

Six nights in a row -and a few more times in between when Regina or Robin had tried to take advantage of a lull in their researches to attempt to sneak off together… to no avail- this ploy had been going on, and she was becoming seriously convinced that it was a conspiracy. Her level of sexual frustration was reaching new heights, threatening to let her once evil persona out again, and if her dear, mute, completely out of her mind and not so green anymore sister's smirks where anything to go by, it was starting to show.

Regina had had enough. Things were already sufficiently complicated between them, so much still needed to be discussed and figured out, but if there was one thing they were good at, very good at actually, it was sex and she wouldn't let any of their travelling companions get in the way of that any longer.

"Roland is in bed, peacefully dreaming away, I checked three times. Henry and the others all retired to their respective chambers, I confiscated every books and parchments and locked them back into Merlin's tower and I wear absolutely nothing under this robe ," she detailed, letting the red garment slide to the floor as Robin turned to her, gaping. "If you intend to just stand there and stare, I'm gonna have to take matters into my own hands, if you see what I mean," she added, grinning, rather flattered by his reaction.

He crossed the distance separating them in a couple of long strides and had her pressed against him before she could even realise he had moved.

"While that is a very enticing image, I would rather do it myself, milady, if you would allow it," he whispered over her lips, tilting her head back with one hand and gripping one of her hips with the other.

Regina moaned her approval as he kissed her and started moving them to the large bed in the center of the room.

He laid her down in the middle of the bed, settling between her legs, groaning at her sweet smell and the wetness from her center he could already feel soaking through his breeches.

"Someone is eager," he muttered against her neck as he kissed his way down to her heaving chest.

"Six days of being interrupted each time things get interesting would do that to someone," Regina replied breathlessly, tugging at his shirt until he took it off and threw it away carelessly. She brought his face back up to hers and kissed him deeply.

They were so lost in each other that they didn't hear the first set of knocks until they became too insistent to be ignored.

Regina bit Robin's lip in frustration, swallowing back an angry cry.

"Regina, Regina, open up, we need to talk to you, it's important," Snow's voice carried to them and Robin let his head fall against her collarbone, cursing under his breath, before attempting to get up.

"What do you think you're doing?" Regina asked him, encircling his waist with her legs, preventing him from moving away.

"They are not going away, my love, I think we need to postpone…. again," Robin grumbled, as tired and dissatisfied with the situation as she was.

"Robin, if we postpone once more, I won't be held accountable for my actions and there is a great chance that I burn this place to the ground," she hissed, moving her hips up to meet his causing him to grunt. "I don't care if they stand here all night as long as the both of us finally get what we want."

He looked down at her for a moment, the Charmings still knocking and calling for her. "What happens when they try to come in?" He asked, taking her hands in his and bringing them over her head.

Regina smirked. "If they want a show then we better give them a good one, don't you think?"

"Minx," Robin murmured, sealing their lips once more.

"You wouldn't have me any other way," she replied.

The door opened just then, Snow and David entered before stopping as they took in the scene. The Princess looked away blushing, while her husband coughed, embarrassed.

Regina and Robin turned their heads towards them, seemingly unfazed.

"Something the matter, Snow?" the Queen asked her former step daughter.

"It…" Snow tried, pausing as her gaze fell on them again. "It can wait until the morning," she said, grabbing David's hand to leave.

"Are you sure, dear? It seemed rather urgent," Regina called back innocently, or as close to it as she could manage anyway.

"I'm certain. We shouldn't have bothered you. It won't happen again," Snow asserted, looking anywhere but at them.

"I trust it won't," Regina said as the couple closed the door tightly behind them. "Now where were we?" She asked Robin, who shook his head and chuckled. It transformed into a full laugh when she joined him and they weren't able to resume their previous activities for a while as they relished the Charmings' mortification.


	24. We will just keep saying goodbye

_A/N: This is a late submission for **OQ Smut Week Day 2** (and kind of 3 as well cause forest sex), early season 4 feels but without the whole Snow Queen business. Big shout out to **Lolymoon** for her input! Also thank you to those wo left reviews for the previous oneshot, and especially to **RoseRed** (Guest), since i can't answer you directly i'm going to do this here, your review made my day! I'm so glad you gave my stories a shot and loved it and I adore DimplesBeliever shenanigans so there will be some, thank you again so much for your kind words._

_Now on with the smut :)_

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**We'll just keep saying goodbye**

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They're trying, they're trying so hard, and it hurts, it's agony but they do it anyway because it's the right thing to do.

They turn away when they see one another, change sidewalks when they are out in the streets at the same time, change aisles in the grocery store, sit as far away as they can in Granny's but it doesn't help, not really.

Regina may have not spoken one word to Robin in days, weeks -she isn't quite sure how much time has passed since he came to her office and simultaneously made her heart inflate with hope before crushing it under the heel of his boot-, but she still falls asleep to the memories of them, dreams of what ifs, and wakes up disoriented and confused until reality settles back in.

Fate has it in for her, of that she is convinced, giving her a taste of happiness only to take it all away in various cruel and improbable ways, a crushed heart in the pretending to be loving fist of her mother, a self-righteous bail bond person waltzing in to reclaim who was never really hers, a dead-not-quite-dead-anymore wife stumbling in from the past with fear in her eyes and angry words in her mouth.

Yes, Fate is ruthless with her, it loves her being dark and will do whatever it takes to keep her this way, but this time she won't let it happen, this time she is not alone, this time others have resisted Fate's pull and are fighting for her. So, she fights against the siren's song, ultimately anyway, she may have indulged long enough to free Sidney from his cell and put him where he is most useful, offering herself a trip down memory lane that gave her even more nightmares than she already had, but for the first time she didn't recognize the woman in those memories, for the first time she was able to see how far she had come and she stopped herself before her old instincts resurfaced. Henry never said anything, she isn't sure how much he has understood, but the pride in his eyes is everything to her.

A monster, Marian had called her but Regina no longer believes it, probably hasn't for a while and Robin and Roland and Henry have a lot to do with that. Her redemption that so many ignored or denied, they celebrated, and losing two of her fiercest defenders is what hurts the most in this whole sad business.

Sometimes she even wishes they had never gotten their memories of the Missing Year back. It may be easier to just have to forget their relationship in Storybrooke, and not think about the months of built up in the Enchanted Forest, the months of tension, teasing, quiet confessions in the dead of night, of curling up with Roland to read a story while Robin watched over them, of hidden smiles, genuine encouragements hidden behind dares.

He doesn't seem to be faring much better, she thinks each time she lets her eyes linger when neither he nor his wife are looking, and the dark and cruel part of her that she has buried deep down rejoices and battles with another which silently begs him to pull himself together and at least pretend that this second chance at love and happiness she would have once killed for, that she did kill for, fills him with joy.

What is the point of doing the right thing when neither of their hearts is in it?

They're trying, they really are but when Roland's birthday comes around and he wants to invite both Regina and Henry, begging, pleading, using puppy dog eyes, and finally throwing a full on tantrum when refusal keeps meeting his request, there is no other choice than for everyone to bite the bullet and pretend for one afternoon that everything is alright in Fairytale City.

She manages for a couple of hours, has attempted to socialize, has smiled when her gift, a magically improved version of a pop-up book, was a great hit, especially when a paper dragon flew out of the book to perch itself on Roland's shoulder. He's been clutching the book ever since, keeping it pressed against his chest as if to prevent anyone to take it from him, his new friend a silent guardian.

She has tried to ignore the way Marian has wanted to grab the book from her son until Robin stopped her, has tried to ignore the entirely silent but very explicit exchange that followed.

She is trying, still trying but at some point it becomes too much for her and she needs to isolates herself. Henry and Roland are reading the book together, lulling little Neal in Snow's arms to sleep, so she slips away without attracting attention.

She walks and walks and before she knows it she finds herself in what she has come to think of as their spot. She bared her heart out to him there and literally gave it to him not far from this place. Why did her steps lead her here she isn't sure but she knows that if Tinkerbell could see that Robin was already seated on the fallen trunk, she would probably comment eagerly, something along the lines of 'It's a soulmate thing'.

She can't stay, can't let all her efforts be in vain so she watches him for a few moments, remembering when things were simpler, when she only had to worry about surviving against her sister. Just a few moments, and then she turns around to leave, but she isn't as stealthy as he is and a twig cracks loudly under her foot and it seems to echo around them.

She freezes, doesn't dare to move, can only hope he didn't hear the noise or thought nothing of it, but she has never been very lucky.

"Regina," he breathes and she closes her eyes, his voice washing over her like a warm breeze. He doesn't sound surprised to see her here, more hopeful, as if he had expected that they would meet, as if he had come here for that very reason.

She spins and faces him. "I didn't see you go. I just needed some time away, I will leave you alone."

She is trying, she really is but…

"Please, stay."

How is she supposed to resist when he isn't even putting up a fight?

He is looking at her so intensely, drinking her in like a thirsty man in the desert and she has very little will when it comes to refusing that man, a year in the Enchanted Forest taught her that.

She ventures nearer, and with each step she takes she realises it's the closest they have been in weeks.

How did it come to this?

She sits beside him, this time there is no letter for him to steal, just a few minutes away from everything.

He is still looking at her, has barely blinked since she has appeared, probably thinking she is a mirage.

"I don't know how long I can do this," he states after a few moments of silence and she throws him a confused look. He sighs, rubbing his hand over his face. "Continue with this pretense that everything is at it should be, that what we shared can be so easily forgotten, that after living without Marian for so long, grieving for her for so long, I can just fall back into a routine, that I should be ecstatic with her return. Everyone thinks I should be over the moon but they have no idea what it is like to have to explain to your son that the woman who showed up out of nowhere is his mother, the same woman he only knew from stories, that she is here to stay, that …"

"Robin, you're ranting," she cuts him off gently and wonders for how long he has bottled all that up.

He looks at her, startled, as if only realising who he is talking to. "I'm sorry, it's not fair to dump all of this on you," he whispers, taking one of her hands in his, infusing warmth, and she squeezes it back.

"There is nothing fair about this situation," she replies.

He sighs again. "You know I was thinking the other day that we never even got to say goodbye. One minute we were happy and the next…" he trails off and she turns her head away, swallowing back tears at the reminder of the evening where everything came crashing down around them, where she had thought that anything could be possible for them only to be proven wrong in the worst way. "You never know that the last time you kiss someone is going to be the last time," he adds softly and her head swirls so fast the tendons of her neck strain painfully.

Is he implying what she thinks he is?

"Robin, what are you saying?" Regina asks, her brow knitting together.

He shrugs, drawing patterns on her hand, looking down intently.

"You made your choice, I'm trying to do the right thing here and let you and your wife build back your life together," she says, attempting to pull back her hand but his grip is tight.

"What if I don't want you to?" He inquires, locking their eyes.

"Robin," she exhales, shaking her head.

"What is the point of doing what's right, of being honorable when it makes everyone miserable?" He is frustrated and there is nothing she can say to make it all better for him. She can't lie to him, she doesn't see the point in any of this either.

His hand caresses its way from her arm to her shoulder to her jaw, he cups her cheek and she knows where this is leading, can read it in his eyes.

"We can't do this," she murmurs as the distance shortens between them.

"Can't we just say goodbye?" He replies, pressing a soft kiss against her lips.

_To hell with it_, she thinks, she isn't the one trying to be honourable here. She crashes their lips together and he responds so eagerly that any doubts left just fly out the window.

He seizes her hips, dragging her on his lap until their fronts are pressed together, managing never to break their kiss in the process. Her dress is tight but slitted and he pushes it further up her thighs to accommodate her. She opens her legs wider, sliding closer until there is no inch of space between their chests.

Regina gasps when she feels the bulge of his growing erection pressing against her core. _This took a wild turn very quickly_ is her last coherent thought before her head falls back, a moan escaping her mouth as she rocks her hips against his, her hands grabbing his jacket to anchor herself.

Robin rids her of her vest and she shivers as the chilly wind hits the bare skin of her arms. He tangles his hand in her hair, pulling her head back even further, baring her neck to his roaming mouth. He licks and kisses his way from her jaw to her throat, taking his sweet time there to nip and nibble, feeling her smooth skin rising and falling with each moan and whimper from his ministrations.

He finds the zipper of her dress next, dragging it down excruciatingly slowly, leaving goosebumps on her back as his fingers caress it gently. He uncovers her shoulders, lowering her bra straps as well.

"You're overdressed," she breathes, her hips are still rocking against his, she feels the growing wetness dampening her panties.

He doesn't seem to hear her, busy as he is feasting on the swell of her breasts.

"God," she cries out when he nudges the dress further down and latches on a nipple. She grasps his short hair, keeping him fused to her heaving chest.

"Robin will do," he mumbles before biting on the pebble, immediately soothing it with a sweep of his tongue.

She lets out a noise that sounds like a cross between a hiccup and a sigh, between laughter and pleasure, a mix only he seems to be able to bring out of her.

She needs more of him and all those clothes are in her way. She tightens her grip on his hair to force him to stop. He groans at the loss of contact.

"Clothes off," she orders breathlessly and helps him dispose of his scarf, jacket and shirt quickly. He throws the jacket on the ground just beside them and gets up with her in his arms, holding under her thighs to keep her legs around his waist.

He lies her down on his discarded coat on the forest floor, kneeling between her legs as her ankles stay crossed around him, her heels pushing him forward but he resists for a bit, admiring her form, wanting the image burned on his eyelids. She is deliciously flushed, hair tousled, a wild dark crown around her head, out of breath, marks appearing on her usually perfect skin, reminders of his earlier assault, her dress is bunched up leaving so little to his imagination that he becomes even harder, and he didn't think that was possible.

She is thrown off by the intensity of his gaze and some part of her mind that still functions properly tries to remind her that this is supposed to be goodbye but in the next second he is taking off her shoes and attacking her pantyhose so she has more important things to focus on.

"I need you," she says as her tights are sent flying.

"I'm right here," he replies, getting up long enough to take off his pants and boxer

She licks her lips at the sight of his erection standing proudly, he smirks at her eager expression and starts pumping himself lazily, her small hand soon covering his. He gives her the lead and her rhythm is quicker, harder, making him grunt, she knows exactly what gets him off and he can count on one hand the number of times they have been intimate and still have fingers left. God, that woman will be the death of him, how can anyone ask of him to give her up?

He isn't going to last much longer if she keeps this up so he stops her movements, joining their hands and kissing her knuckles in reverence.

She shivers and it has nothing to do with fresh air. She never thought she would have this, she told him as much and after this afternoon she may never have it again but she will be damned if she won't enjoy it while it lasts.

There is only one piece of clothing separating them, actually calling it clothing is a generous term, just a skimpy lacy black thong Robin discovers as he slides it down her legs. He is distracted for a second, thinking that she has been walking around his camp with barely a scrap of cloth covering her most private parts has his imagination running wild.

"Less staring, more action, Thief," she breaks his train of thoughts and he looks down at her, she is pouting at his lack of attention and he has to rectify that.

"Thief, again, is it?" He murmurs against her inner right thigh, nibbling his way up to her core.

"Always," she gasps, arching her back as his tongue swipes at her clit quickly, letting out a whine when he turns his attention to her left thigh. "Stop teasing," she begs.

"I just want to be sure my Queen is properly ready," he taunts, biting the supple skin when she tries to bring him where she wants him most.

"Robin," she moans. "Please."

He kisses her thigh soothingly. "Who am I to refuse the Queen?" He licks up until he reaches her mound and finds her clit again, his nimble fingers open her to him and he pushes one and then two in when he finds her wet and slick for him.

She is thrashing beneath him, her thighs closing around his head, one of her arms over her eyes, whimpering continuously, crying his name out from time to time. "Harder, harder," she implores and he obeys.

She is close, so close, nerve endings on fire from his relentless pace and she explodes suddenly, her loud shout of 'Robin' has birds flying from their branches. He doesn't give her time to come down from her high, he leans over her, aligns himself and thrusts in, pressing his lips to hers, swallowing her renewed cries, letting her taste herself on his tongue.

He knows it won't take much, the foreplay, seeing her come undone already had him near the edge and he wants her to come again. One hand is in her hair, the other travelling south back to her clit and he thrusts harder. She groans at the onslaught of overwhelming sensations, she grabs blindly at his arms, his back, leaving scratches behind, she can't see, can't think, she doesn't know where she ends and he begins. She feels herself tightening around him again, and a couple of thrusts later she is coming again, even more intensely than the first time and he is right behind her, twin shouts of 'Robin' and 'Regina' echoing in the clearing.

They are panting afterwards but still joined together, he presses his forehead against hers, leaning on his elbows on each side of her head as to not crush her. He is slowly going soft but he doesn't want this to end and it seems she doesn't either if the way she wraps her legs around his means anything.

She kisses him, nothing urgent now, just lazy kisses without much coordination, on his cheek, his nose, his lips.

They're buying time, they both know it, precious seconds before they will have to get back. Questions will be raised over their extended absence, but for now, just for now, they're content to stay like this. If this is supposed to be goodbye then they will enjoy it as long as they can.

_Who are they fooling?_ Regina thinks. She knows that they will never be able to stay away, they will just keep saying goodbye.


	25. OQ smut week Day 7: You're in my veins

_A/N: For Day 7 of the OQ Smut Week: Dark Robin and Regina. Sequel of sorts to chapter 17 Lost of part of me and then I found you where Robin is Daniel's brother looking for revenge. Inspired by Buffy and Spike's first time in BTVS. Big thanks to Lolymoon for reading this and tell me it doesn't suck!_

_Hope you like it!_

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**You're in my veins**

So close, they had been so close. Snow White's last fighting followers held in a tight net, the carefully set up trap closing in around them and the damn fairies had to fly in to save the day unexpectedly.

It had gone to hell after that, the pests ruthlessly attacking her Guards, and no amount of fireballs seemed to have made a difference. Even Robin, her strongest, bravest, most faithful warrior, appeared to have lost his mind during the fight and had let the two dwarves he had been keeping prisoner escape.

Once the dust had settled, smoke still swirling in the air from the remnants of where her fire had hit the empty houses, the inhabitants having fled long before, only one shack was still standing, or attempting to anyway. Regina looked around the scene, her eyes narrowed as she found Robin kneeling on the ground, panting, his fists clenched at his sides.

An odd mixture of anger and disappointment filled her, an annoying voice belonging to the Dark One invaded her mind, a memory of a few weeks before when her former teacher had paid her a visit to taunt her about Robin and play mind games.

"_You do realise you're only a mean to an end for him. He will turn against you the moment your snowflake of a stepdaughter is out of the way," Rumplestiltskin had whispered in her ear as she had stood, paralysed, all her deepest fears and insecurities being exposed, bared for the world to see, salt rubbed on bleeding wounds. _

"_Revenge is a poison in his veins, he will never get enough. You have let him in, he knows you, when your guards will be down, he will strike." Regina had jumped when Rumple had snapped his fingers and he had laughed at her, a cruel, cutting sound that only intensified when he saw her battling with a sudden onset of nausea. "I will come back to pick up the pieces when he is done with you," and with that he had disappeared._

Regina shook herself from her remembrance and approached Robin, her lips set in a thin line, her eyes dark and glinting dangerously.

"Get up," she growled at him. "After that fiasco you don't get to wallow around. You should already be pursuing these dwarves you let loose so easily."

He looked up at her. "Something you need to get off your chest, Your Majesty? Because from where I stood, it didn't look like your all-powerful magic did much good against those fairies," he mocked, eyes travelling lazily up her black boots, her red leather-clad legs, her red and black corseted waist, and finally settling on her exposed cleavage.

She bristled at his tone and attitude. "I was outnumbered, solely putting up a fight while you all got your asses handed to you," she snapped. "From where I stood, it looked like I was the only one who cared about the issue here," she threw his words back to him furiously.

He stood up so fast that she took half a step back, her eyes widening at the way his face distorted from the wrath pushing to the surface. "How dare you insinuate that I am any less concerned about finding Snow White's followers and isolating her than you are? It was my brother whose death she caused, when I finally find that brat I won't show her any mercy!" He exclaimed.

"Is that what you call what happened here? Not showing any mercy? All the wounded are on our side," Regina countered, showing with her hand the injured Guards being supported by those still able to stand on their two feet. "At least none of the Guards are dead. How could you let those Dwarves go? They were our best chance to find that blasted girl!"

"What else could I have done? Those moths were coming for them, they fired at me and I couldn't fight back with both my hands otherwise occupied, Your Majesty," he spat.

"Fight back may be too strong a term given how efficient you were," Regina replied harshly.

"You won't pin this failure on me. We were all unprepared to receive such a welcome committee, admit it," Robin roared and Regina was even more wound up.

"I will admit to nothing, the only one who failed is you when you were incapable to retain the prisoners, that's all there is to say," she argued, passing by him to leave but he grabbed her arm roughly.

A couple of guards standing the closest to them made a move towards them but Regina waved them away before turning back to Robin.

"Let go of me or I'll make you," Regina growled in a low voice but Robin only tightened his grasp.

"Not until you tell me what this is really about," he replied and she saw red. She gathered her magic and sent him flying.

He landed against the door of the last hovel making the structure shake as the door was unhinged, Robin's breath was stolen from him when he fell with it. Regina walked to him quickly, not giving him time to gather his spirits back, and wrapped her hand around his throat, sinking her nails in his skin. "I warned you. Don't try and cross me, Locksley," she snarled as he hissed.

However, even as enraged as she was, he was still much stronger than her. He straightened up, circled her wrist and crushed it under his grip with all his force, using her surprised cry of pain to his advantage and reversed their position. The wall shook even more as her back hit it.

Robin clutched both her arms as she struggled. "I don't know what your damn problem is but you need to calm down now," he told her, throwing a glance over his shoulder to see the gathering crowd of Guards observing them. Their fights were as frequent as they were spectacular and usually her soldiers stood by wondering if they should intervene or not.

He suddenly smelled an acre odor of burning cloth and felt an intense heat in the palm of his hands. He let go of her, realising she was trying to literally set him on fire.

"You crazy bitch," he swore, examining his burned sleeves- the fire was put out as soon as he stopped touching her.

"I know what you're trying to do but it won't work, I won't let you," Regina barked and he looked at her, confused, thinking that she must have finally snapped and became raving mad in the blink of an eye.

He pushed her inside, away from prying eyes. "What has your demented mind came up with now?" He asked.

She slapped him, hard, a red imprint from her still hot palm already appearing on his cheek. "You son of a bitch, you want to pretend I'm mad? You're the one who sabotaged this mission, you knew this was a trap, you led us here, it was all you. You wanted me to believe we want the same thing but you still want revenge against me, you never gave that up."

Before he could attempt an answer to her rant, she sent him flying again. This time he landed against a pillar which snapped in two under the force. Robin rolled to avoid its collapse and got back up with a groan.

Cracks appeared in the ceiling, a piece of it detached itself, fell and almost hit Regina on the head but Robin threw himself over her to protect her.

"Stop this now or we'll both end up buried under the rubble," he yelled and then coughed as he breathed in some dust.

"Get off me, you swine," she pushed him away, hitting him with her fists.

He caught them in one of his hands, bringing her up with him, and holding her against him around the waist with his free hand, trying to restrain her movements but she wasn't so easily deterred, and having her wriggling against him roused a natural reaction he hadn't expected to get under those circumstances.

As he tried once more to get a sensible explanation for her behaviour, he saw her eyes turning the tell tale purple hue that indicated her magic coming to the surface.

He turned her away from him and pressed her front against the nearest wall. Pieces of the ceiling kept falling around them.

"Enough of this," he screamed. "What on Earth happened to have you act like that?"

"You know perfectly well what happened! You're going to betray me like everyone else before you. You're only using me as long as it's beneficial to you," Regina said, still fighting against his hold.

Robin pressed himself against her back, threading their fingers and she tensed as she felt his growing erection.

"Stop this nonsense," he whispered in her ear. "When have I ever given you the impression that I was still holding a grudge against you? If I had wanted you dead, I would have killed you in the woods when I had the chance."

He bit down at the junction of her neck and shoulder, hard enough to break the skin and draw blood, making her lose her focus. His tongue collected the precious liquid and she moaned and shivered, extending her neck to give him better access. "My fiery Queen, you have no worse enemy than yourself. Who did you let get into your lovely head?"

She didn't answer, losing herself in what his teeth and tongue were doing to her as he attacked the side of her neck, biting hard once more. She brought their right joined hands up and punched through the wall, crying out from the mix of pain and pleasure his bites procured her.

"Does that turn you on, Regina? If I were to find my way into your tight leather pants, would you be wet?" He asked, freeing his left hand from hers and bringing it to her front, releasing a breast from the tight confines of her corset and tweaking the nipple until she mewled. "A real tigress in heat," he whispered in her ear. "The rougher the better, don't you think?" Once more no coherent words passed her lips and her eyes remained closed.

Robin was extremely satisfied to have apparently robbed her of speech, his oh so eloquent Queen. His hand skipped over her stomach, not bothering with the corset any longer -he liked the way it enhanced her figure too much-, he pressed her against him more tightly, snuggling his still clothed cock into the cleft of her delectable ass, drawing a loud moan from her. He continued his exploration lower, reaching her pants, sneaking in and finding her exactly as he had thought she would be, completely bare beneath.

"Well, well, would you look at that. Who were you hoping to seduce Your Majesty? Should I be worried? Jealous, perhaps?"

She grumbled something that to his ears sounded a lot like "You sure should be," and he grinned. Even barely coherent from all his teasing his Queen was still feisty as ever. He tapped and pinched her clit in retaliation and she shrieked, her free arm raising to seize the back of his head, clawing at his nape, tearing off hair and skin.

Robin had discovered a new side to himself when he had met the Queen, had discovered more about his limits, about the subtle border between what hurt and what got him off and Regina certainly had taught him a thing or two about that.

Before her, never would he have become rock hard when a lass tried to scratch his head off, but this hot-tempered woman knew exactly what he could handle, what could enhance his pleasure, their pleasure, and he yearned to keep learning.

He thrust two fingers inside her as he felt every inch of skin she scrapped and their grunts resounded in the dusty air. Regina punched their hands through the wall again.

"Yes, more, more," she screamed as he thrust harder.

"You want more? I will give you more," he said, pulling his fingers out, causing her to yell in outrage.

He turned her around, slamming her against the barely standing surface, tearing her pants down and quickly following with his own, hoisting her legs around his hips and thrusting his cock inside her so fast she barely had time to react. Regina screeched as he filled her to the hilt.

"Is that what you wanted, Regina?" He panted against her lips, rocking his hips against her.

She nodded, hitting her head but not caring. "Don't stop, don't stop," she yelled before crashing their lips together, savouring the sharp copper taste of her own blood on his tongue, licking it from his teeth.

She threw her head back when he hit just the right spot, the one that made her see stars. "Right there, right there, do it again," she hissed but he seemed to have decided to play with her.

He slowed down, giving her a couple of shallow thrusts that went nowhere near where she needed him. "So controlling, my Queen, aren't you tired of ordering people around?" He mocked and she couldn't have that.

She pushed against the wall behind her hard, used her feet to bend his knees and it was enough to make him lose his balance. Robin fell on his back, a whoosh escaping him as the air left his lungs from the force of the impact.

"I'm never tired of ordering people around," she said, biting her lips, trying to ignore the pain in her knees. "Now, let's find that spot again, shall we?" She rose up and fell down, impaling herself in him in quick successions until she moaned loudly. "Yes, that's it," she leaned back, putting her hands on his thighs, changing the angle slightly. "Oh, God, yes, that's better."

Robin breathed hard for a moment, still winded from the fall but when he recovered he decided to enjoy the show, the view was after all spectacular. He grabbed the front of her corset, lowering it enough to free both of her breasts, wanting to see them bounce, and bounce they did. Her movements became frantic and he felt her tightening around him.

She was about to come, could feel it building, heat spreading from her toes, her muscles contracting, and just when she started shaking, he rolled them over, a wood cross beam falling right where they had been seconds before.

Robin took the lead again, building her orgasm back, rocking hard, the sound of skin slapping against skin and their moans the only noises in the room until an ominous crack coming from above was heard. The ceiling was caving in but they were too lost in each other to think about stopping and get out of there. They rolled and rolled avoiding the debris crashing to the ground.

When it seemed they were far enough away from the most dangerous part, Regina, who was back on top, set up the rhythm, rocking faster than ever, afraid that her orgasm would slip through her fingers.

Finally, she was there and she would be damned if she was going to let such a small matter as a house about to collapse stop her to get what she felt was one of the most powerful orgasm she had ever had.

Robin was about to roll them again, wanting to test the limits of her frustration, but she seized his neck, choking him.

"If you dare to move, I swear I will end you," she hissed and then cried out, falling over the edge, her sheath gripping him impossibly tightly making him follow.

"I can't wait to do this again when we will bathe in Snow White's blood," Robin said after a moment as she laid on top of him, among the ruins. "And when that's done, we will find your mother and make her pay," he swore to her.

"Together, we can bring the whole world to its knees and it will be glorious," she replied.

_Revenge is a poison in his veins, he will never get enough. _Rumple had said but he hadn't realised how much the poison had infected her as well.

* * *

Reviews make my day, please share your thoughts :D


	26. The Chronicles of Miriam Locksley

_A/N: As always thank you so much for your feedback on this story, it means a lot. I decided to compile here my entries for **Cherish the Peanut Week** on tumblr and a couple of prompts I wrote about Baby Girl Locksley. Let me know what you think. Big thanks to my darling Lolymoon for her editing work._

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**The Chronicles of Miriam Locksley**

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**_From an anonymous prompt: Things you said too quietly_**

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Ever since she has been placed in his arms, Robin has had trouble letting the pink bundle go. Each exams by the pediatrician to make sure that the accelerated development of the pregnancy and way too early delivery had no immediately noticeable consequences on his baby girl, had him hovering anxiously behind the woman performing the tests. He was restless, his hands closing into fists every once in a while until the baby was back, her little head resting in the crook of his elbow.

It still feels unreal, he had thought they would have more time to figure things out, that they would be in a better place to welcome this child. He realises how uneasy Regina still is about this whole mess, with good reasons, how hurt she had been in New-York when she had found out what had happened, and though she has buried it all for his and Roland's sake, he would love nothing more than to know what is swirling behind the dark and soft eyes that look between him and his daughter.

Though he is grateful for his baby girl, despite the quite horrifying circumstances surrounding her conception, he can't help but feel cheated of being able to fully share this with Regina. It should be _their _daughter he holds protectively, _their _daughter he isn't quite sure he wants to put in the car seat, even though his love told him it is the safest way to travel with an infant. _Their_ daughter he is bringing home after supporting Regina through the delivery, not this mockery he had to endure with Zelena.

He has no doubt that Regina will love this baby as her own, the way she does with Henry and Roland, but everything that happened, everything that led to his daughter's existence will always be a stain between them, and he would just want to be sure that they can get through this unscathed, or at the very least if they can rebuild something that has a chance to last.

Since New-York, they have barely had the chance to sit down and talk about their situation, their future, mostly had to go through the motion of dealing with all the crisis that hit the town one after the other following Emma becoming the new Dark One. He just wants a break, just a few quiet moments for them to get their bearings back and discuss where they are going. now that this has all become very concrete.

When they enter the manor he is almost relieved that Roland is at the Merry Men camp for the night, he has been postponing talking to his boy about the new addition to their family for a while now and having to tell him right after bringing said addition home for the first time doesn't sound exactly right to him. He sighs, shifting the sleeping baby a bit to help Regina bring in the necessities the hospital and Snow provided for them. He is a little overwhelmed at the amount of things a newborn seems to need in this world, most of which he has no idea what they are used for.

When they finally settle the bassinet in the master bedroom, he feels the emotional and physical exhaustion of the day catching up with him but he is painfully aware that sleep will be coming in very short supplies in the days to come.

"You should get some rest, I've got her," Regina whispered, standing at the door of the ensuite in which she had disappeared to get changed, and probably to regroup as well if the time she spent in there is any indication.

He wants to object, he wants to say that she needs rest as much as he does, if not more, that he can handle this, but she has crossed the few steps between the door and the bed before the words he has formed in his head can be out of his mouth and has placed a finger against his lips. She smiles softly, her eyes roaming his face, lingering on the dark circles, the way his eyelids droop, the more pronounced lines on his forehead.

"Out of the two of us, you're the one with the most chances of falling asleep and staying that way, it's alright, I've got her," she insists and he can't argue much with that. Sleep has never come easy to her and he doubts today could have possibly helped, he may as well take advantage while he can.

Her smile widens slightly when she sees he is wavering and she holds out her arms for him to transfer the baby into. He observes her reactions when the baby whimpers a bit at being moved, how Regina holds her breath until the tiny little girl snuggles her head into her chest to feel her warmth and settles contently there.

She moves to her side of the bed and gets under the covers without taking her eyes away from the precious swaddled package. She sits up straight, her back against the headboard and he doesn't feel like getting up to change and miss a second of this. He lies down on his side, facing his girls and he feels his muscles relaxing for the first time that day. His eyelids feel heavy and it takes him a moment to realise that Regina is speaking to the baby, so quietly he can barely hear.

"Well, here we are, certainly a bit earlier than I thought. I'll be honest, it's going to take some time to adjust but I will do whatever it takes to make it work, sweetheart. You are the only one who is completely innocent in all of this, you did nothing wrong, and I will make sure you never doubt that, I will make sure you are loved and cherished, I promise you that," she says, touching her forehead to the baby's, letting out a faint chuckle that almost sounds like a sob when the girl's face scrunches adorably.

"You've got that Mills' expression spot on on your first try. Things will be rocky from time to time, given your lineage and this town's tendency to go completely mad over the slightest things but you are now part of a strong family, filled with hopeful people who never give up, even when you tell them bluntly that they really should. This family looks after each and every one of its members, we will protect you, forever and always."

A tear slides down Robin's cheek as she finishes, he presses his face against her hip. "Thank you," he mutters, his voice muffled by the fabric of her pyjamas and he grasps one of her hands in his, squeezing it. He falls asleep like that, holding onto his girls, feeling a bit more secure about their future.

* * *

**_For Day 6 Questions and Answers: Roland and the mystery of the baby sister_**

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Roland doesn't quite know how it happened. How suddenly he has a baby sister with a tuft of blonde hair that turns red when hit by the right light, wide blue eyes that follow him with interest and pink lips that stretch into a smile and let escape gurgles and babbles. Babies are supposed to grow in a mommy's belly but his sister wasn't in Regina's tummy. Henry wasn't either though and he is still Regina's son so things are not very clear on that front.

A lot of things feel fuzzy to Roland, he has dreams of a woman with brown hair and brown eyes that he called Mama, of a big, noisy city with strange buildings taller than palaces and lots and lots of people and horseless carriages but he was never in this place and his Mama is long gone. The grownups say he will understand when he is older but Roland wants to know now. He wants to know why Papa and Regina are sad when he asks if Regina is his sister's mother.

He wants to know why they fought sometimes, before the baby arrived, so loudly that Henry had to try and distract him but he still heard. Fights, hurtful words and slammed doors in the evenings that left his Papa and his Gina with red-rimmed eyes and hoarse voices in the mornings, whispered apologies and tentative touches.

He wants to be a big boy now and know things like Henry does, he wants to be Regina's brave knight again, a hero who protects his little sister, even though he isn't exactly sure what her arrival means for their little family. Most of all he just wants to call Regina "Mama" and not feel that little pang in his chest as if he isn't supposed to.

Roland had always been a sound sleeper when living in the Forest, lulled to sleep by the hooting of owls, the rustling of the wind in the leaves, the reassuring murmur of a flowing river, but it all changed when they came to live in Regina's castle. While he enjoyed it immensely by day, always looking for his next adventure, more often than not in the company of the Queen herself, by night he found the silence stifling, and now that he and his Papa have come to leave in the big mansion in Storybrooke, no matter how many sheeps he counts, his swirling with thoughts mind won't let him find rest.

It's really no surprise that he hears the little cries of his hungry sister coming from the bedroom where his Papa and Regina sleep, even if it's all the way up the hall from his room. He gets up, barefoot, his little toes wriggling against the colder floor and he heads into the corridor. He opens the door to their room cautiously and spots his Gina sitting in the armchair by the window, feeding the baby a bottle. Ever so watchful, her head snaps up the second the door creaks and she sends him a puzzled smile when she sees him standing there.

She whispers a 'Come here, sweetie' and he silently hurries to her. His Papa is sleeping soundly, his familiar light snore echoing in the room along with the suckling noises from his sister.

"You can't sleep, can you, honey?" Regina states more than asks in a soft voice, stroking his cheek gently with her thumb.

Roland shakes his head, eyes fixed on the baby as he presses himself close to the chair.

"What's bothering you, sweetheart?" She tries again and he shrugs. "You know you can tell me anything, my little knight."

He looks up at her when he hears his very own royal nickname and he bites his bottom lip, unsure if he should voice his doubts, but it's his Gina, his Majesty, looking at him with warm eyes and a smooth hand tangling in his wild curls.

"I just don't understand where she is from," he says, indicating the baby. "You and Papa told me she is my sister but I never heard about her before and then she was here, just like that," he is frustrated and tired and confused.

"It's complicated Roland," she starts and he huffs petulantly, bowing his head, but she is not finished and she raises his chin to look him in the eyes. "It is complicated and painful and believe me when I say that I wish we could spare you all this. She is your sister, you have the same father, and how she came into the world doesn't mean we have to love her any less," she explains as the baby finishes her bottle, heavy eyelids blinking sleepily. Regina brings her up against her chest, caressing her back.

"But she isn't yours," Roland whispers.

"She is mine, like Henry and, I hope, you are. Family is about much more than carrying a child, Roland, it's more than blood, it's a choice and I chose you and your father and Henry, and now I'm choosing this baby as well," Regina replies. "Come here," she adds, prompting him to climb on her lap. "See, there is enough space to hold you both, and there is definitely enough space to love you all in here," she presses his little hand against her heart.

"So you're our Mama, the three of us?" he asks, just to be sure, snuggling as close to her as physically possible and joining his other hand over hers on his sister's back.

"If you wish me to be," she answers, trying to hide the fleeting moment of insecurity and doubt that squeezes her insides before he nods eagerly.

"I would like that," he says, smiling hugely, his dimples showing. He grows serious after a moment. "You will tell me everything one day? About her?"

Regina sighs. "One day, yes, we will tell you."

"Okay," he says simply and then is startled by the loud burp the baby lets out.

Regina chuckles. "I guess this means this little one is ready for bed, shall we?"

Roland bites his lip again. "Can I stay here tonight?" He asks shyly.

"Of course you can, sweetheart, you never need to ask."

They rise up and Regina places the now sleeping baby carefully in the little bassinet they have settled beside the bed while they're finishing the nursery, and presses a kiss to her brow, Roland imitates her and then grabs her hand. They get under the covers, Roland immediately embracing Regina, resting his head against her chest. Their movements cause Robin to open a bleary eye.

"Everything alright?" He mutters.

"Everything is fine, our boy just needed some proper cuddle time," Regina tells him and Roland relishes in the 'our'.

"Who doesn't," Robin says, surrounding them with a heavy arm and falling back in his slumber.

For the first time in days, Roland feels the pull of sleep trying to drag him away and he doesn't resist. He is safe and they will all be alright, because they have Regina by their side, and nothing bad can happen to them with Regina on their team, right?

* * *

**_For Day 2: Daddy's girl where curly hair gives Robin trouble. _**

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Robin has always believed himself to be quite a resourceful man, never to be hindered by such petty things as locks or magical shields when he was on a job. He has come across several Dark One, a dragon turning sorceress, vengeful knights and sheriffs, a wicked green witch (though that last one is someone he could live without the reminder of) but when it comes to his daughter's hair, Robin is certain he is facing his greatest challenge.

At two years-old, and already very opinionated, though he would expect nothing else of a girl who is half Mills (more than half he is quite sure most days), Miriam has grown a mass of red curls atop her head that are as wild and untameable as the girl herself.

Robin can't say it didn't leave a bitter aftertaste to see the blonde baby locks turn redder and redder as time went by. He had hoped against hope that his daughter wouldn't have to live with the constant reminder of her unfortunate inheritance, that she wouldn't have to face the not so fairytale-like world with eyes full of distrust watching her from every corner, waiting for the signs of Zelena's legacy to appear through her.

It was Regina who made him see things differently, who told him that those red curls weren't some curse that would hinder their little girl's life when it was barely starting. She said that Miriam had simply taken the most beautiful parts of her family, like the Locksley's trademark dimples, Robin's eyes, Regina's smile, Roland's energetic nature, Henry's ability to hope and believe no matter what… and mixed it into something that was uniquely her, her own bland of magic more light and pure than anything Regina nor Emma could ever attempt to emulate.

So he had relaxed slightly, and had given a chance to Storybrooke to prove him wrong. He hadn't been disappointed, though it would take a rather cold heart to resist his daughter's toothy grins and unstoppable squeals when Granny would steal her from their booth at the diner to make her test her latest milkshake, or when Ruby would parade her around, proclaiming she had found her new assistant waitress, even managing to get a smile out of Grumpy.

Life is good these days, their little family has been able to settle into a quiet routine that is very welcome after the events of the past few years, but tonight the routine is disrupted. Regina is usually the one taking care of Miriam's hair, it's their moment together, 'girls being girls' as Henry calls it, but she is held back by Mary Margaret and the committee at Town Hall over some business with the upcoming fair.

"They are dragging this along unreasonably," she had groaned when she had called him to say she wouldn't be home for dinner, and could he please handle Miriam's bath while she tried to be there for bedtime.

He had turned for one second, one second to tell her that of course he would, and he was sorry she would miss this moment she cherished so much, and 'Love, just kick their asses if it means you can be here in time for Miri's story." One second to relish in her amused chuckle and her quiet thanks for attempting to lift her spirits.

He should have known better. When he had hung up and turned back to his daughter, he had found that she had decided to make a close comparison between the red of her hair and the tomato sauce of her pasta… a very close comparison. The sight had given him pause and he had had a delayed reaction, wondering for a moment if he should take a picture for Regina to make her laugh. He had snapped it, deciding to store it away with the rest of the embarrassing moments that would come in handy when boyfriends or girlfriends would enter the scene, and then he had swooped Miriam from her highchair with an amused "Off to the bathroom with you."

Here comes the part where he is puzzled, because for all his resourcefulness, he can't figure out which one of the dozen hair products standing on the shelves in the corner of the bathtub will be useful to him, and he is pretty sure that given the blast Miriam is having in her imaginary world of yellow rubber ducks cruising around the globe in search of adventure, he will be soaked to the bone before he starts reading the label of the second bottle.

"If only Mom had left an instruction sheet like the one she writes so I don't burn dinner," he sighs and Miriam looks up at him, showing off all her white pearly teeth, giggling lightly and pointing to a bright pink and white bottle.

"Papa wash Miri's hair?" She asks and there is just a hint of doubt in her expression, as if she isn't quite sure he is competent enough to do it. He doesn't exactly disagree but it's only because his pride is hurt that he fakes confidence and grabs the shampoo to pour some into his palm.

He hesitates again as Miriam obediently turns her head and inclines it backwards, not certain how to proceed, he thinks he remembers something Regina said about not messing with the curls too much when washing them so he starts to gently massage Miri's scalp.

He understands why Regina loves to do it so much, he finds it soothing and his daughter seems to approve. That is until he encounters a knot full of tomato sauce and tugs a bit too hard. Miriam protests and he apologizes, wincing, as if it had hurt him as much as it did her.

He also realises why Roland's hair have always looked so wild: they had never bothered this much to properly take care of them when living in the woods, by the time they had come to live in Storybrooke, and then with Regina, it was too late.

He rinses Miri's locks carefully, protecting her eyes, and she points to another bottle, a 'conditioner' he reads on the label along with the instructions. He finds it amusing how it is Miriam who is leading the show and he is just a silent helper, working his way through the confusing world of cosmetics. It's strange how it only hits him now that she has acquired so many of Regina's mannerisms.

He knows how difficult it was for Regina to embrace her role as Miri's mom. She has no trouble loving the child, has let her into her heart the moment she had set eyes on her in the hospital, probably even before that, but while being Roland's 'Mama' is easy, his son's adoration of her no secret ever since their year in the Enchanted Forest, their relationship built over time, through Regina's grief and Roland's lack of a loving mother figure, into a tight and loving complicity Robin has found himself jealous of at times, with Miriam things are different, there are still so many unresolved issues between them and Zelena that he feared it would hinder any attempt Regina would make to connect with the child.

He sees it sometimes, the doubt in his love's eyes, the insecurities, the wonder if one day Miri will reject her the way Henry once did, and he also knows that she still feels guilty over Zelena's actions. She asked him once if he would ever be able to forgive her for the hell he was put through because of her, because he was the surest way Zelena had found to hurt her, and he was so stunned he couldn't answer. By the time he was able to form words again, she had read his silence wrong and turned away. Miri's looks doesn't help but Regina's strength and ability to take in stride whatever cards life had decided to deal her with never fail to amaze him. He doesn't think she has noticed that Miri will always be more her daughter than she could ever be Zelena's.

He is so lost in thought he doesn't notice that Miriam is standing up, ready to be taken out of the bathtub, until she decides to attract his attention by splashing him. It does the trick and his attempt to scowl only makes his daughter laugh. He dries her off, stopping when she shakes her head as he is about to towel dry her hair.

"Not how Mama does it," she says, taking the towel from him and putting on her shoulders. "Pyjamas, please," she demands sweetly in that special way of the Mills women where they make you believe you have the option to refuse them but really you don't.

She skips to the master bedroom in her feet-in bright yellow pyjamas, making no sound on the hardwood floor. He follows and finds her sitting at the vanity on the pile of cushions Regina keeps to prop Miri up. He grabs the brush but she tsks him.

"Silly Papa! This one," she exclaims, giving him a wide-tooth comb.

He takes a deep breath and gets to work, surprised by how easy it is to comb the curls into something resembling their usual state. When he is done they hear the door opening downstairs and Miriam runs away.

"No running in the stairs, Miriam, you know better," Robin says but she doesn't slow down.

"Mama, Mama, you're home," he hears Miriam call out and he smiles when he makes his way to the hall and sees his daughter in Regina's arms, his love eyeing critically the girl's hair.

"Your Papa did this all by himself?" Regina asks, quirking a brow.

Miri nods. "I helped," she adds.

Regina grins. "I'm sure you did," she replies and turns to Robin. "Not bad though, for a first time."

Robin inclines his head, relieved that she approves. "Next time, I wouldn't mind you being there to guide me."

"I will be," she says, exchanging an Esquimau kiss with Miriam and puffing up the roots of the red hair with her fingertips. "I may even share some tips."

He stands at the bottom of the stairs, watching them, Regina twirling a curl around a finger, Miri pulling her Mama's dark locks away from her face, they look so good together, like they belong and he will make sure they never doubt it. Miri might have inherited Zelena's look but she is more Regina's daughter than any of them could have ever expected her to be.

* * *

**_For Day 3 Mother Knows Best_**

* * *

It is unbelievable how such a silly song can drive her so crazy. She never should have allowed this movie night in the first place, not when this particular movie was chosen anyway. A breach on the ban on Disney films they had decreed right after Roland had stumbled on the animated version of Robin Hood and they had found him pressed against the screen, tracing the lines of a foxy Marian, big, fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

Apart from their brief encounter with Rapunzel when David had reunited her with her parents in the Enchanted Forest, they weren't familiar with the Princess or her story, so they had thought Tangled was safe. They had been wrong. When the first note of the song had resounded, Regina had felt a familiar icy sensation forming in her insides, building with each word Mother Gothel had pronounced, the voice grating on her every nerves, calling back reminiscences she would rather had stayed buried.

She had had to excuse herself as the song had climaxed, Rapunzel embracing her so-called Mother, feeling safe with her tormentor, not knowing any better. She had pretended to need to prepare a refill on hot chocolate but her hands had been trembling so much that she had to wait several minutes, using every breathing techniques she had ever learned with Archie to get herself under control. She had stayed away long enough to be sure the song would be over when she would get back.

The rest of the movie had been a silent torture. She had recognized so much of her young self in Rapunzel that she had flinched during every interaction between Rapunzel and Gothel, and had felt an overwhelming jealousy when Rapunzel had managed to successfully escape. If only it had ended there, with a short, brown haired Rapunzel making a triumphant return to the kingdom she had been ripped from, back into the arms of her true parents.

However, Miriam has developed something close to veneration for the young Princess, and the next morning she has used her still wild magic to grow several additional feet of curly red hair. Regina can deal with a lot of things, she can deal with her five-years-old daughter proudly standing in the master bedroom to show her her accomplishment while the end of her hair is still in her own, she can deal with having to resort to magic to brush and braid the red mass into something manageable, she can deal with Miriam attempting to sing the healing song because she wants to keep 'her Mama young and pretty and with her forever', she can deal with all of that, but when Miriam starts to hum the dreaded tune, Regina can't answer for anything anymore.

She is standing in the kitchen, cutting pieces of bacon to add to the sizzling pan for her ravenous children and lover, Robin, Henry and Roland staring dumbfounded at Miri's new hairstyle while the girl sings 'Mother knows best', oblivious to Regina's increasingly agitated state. The trembling starts again and she almost nicks her finger. Suddenly, she slams the knife down on the counter and snaps.

"Stop singing this awful song, Miriam!"

The silence that follows is deafening. Four heads raising towards her in utter surprise, the smallest of them staring with wide eyes and quivering lips, never having heard this tone from her mother before. Regina is frozen in her spot, not recognizing the voice as her own. She can't handle the look on Miri's face and leaves the kitchen in a hurry.

"Mama," she hears her daughter calling but she doesn't trust herself not to fall apart.

She finds refuge in the ensuite bathroom, clenching the sink so hard her knuckles turn white and she looks up in the mirror, startled by her ashen face and haunted eyes. Years after their trip to the Underworld, years after she had settled her differences with her mother, after they had put the past to rest once and for all, she had thought her memories would no longer trouble her, but nothing can erase all the abuse she had suffered at Cora's hand.

What can she tell Miriam? How can she explain that hearing this song, that seems so catchy to the little girl, sends her in a swirl of dark thoughts, hurtful words, harmful magical injuries that left scars usually invisible to the rest of the world and some not so much, as she remembers the mother that used to control her, body and thoughts, as long as she could? How can she explain to her that not every mothers are loving and kind, that putting a child in a cage, as golden as it is, is different from protecting them?

She is looking down, lost in her own world, and she doesn't see Robin until he encircles her in his arms from behind, bringing her against his solid chest.

"I'm sorry for what happened down there, I didn't mean to frighten Miri," she whispers in a throaty voice but he shakes his head.

"You didn't my love, she was a bit taken aback sure, but you could never scare our girl," he reassures her. "Can you tell me why you reacted like that?"

She inhales sharply, closing her eyes. "It's just that stupid song, that stupid movie, I thought I could handle it but…" Her voice breaks and she trails off, he hugs her tighter.

"It reminded you of your mother," he says and he had been by her side every step of the way during their stay in Hell, he remembers the reunion with Cora, the nightmares that had followed, how Regina had tried to hide them from him, but couldn't when it would wake her, screaming, in the middle of the night.

He remembers the hatred he had felt towards the woman who had treated her like a puppet, how much he had wanted to make her pay, but Regina had wanted to leave this place at peace so he had swallowed it all down, but now it all resurfaces as it threatens her relationship with Miriam.

"She is too young to understand," Regina tells him but he shakes his head.

"I think you are underestimating our daughter, she is as smart as her mother."

"Mama," they hear calling from the bedroom's entrance and they head to it.

"I asked you to wait downstairs, Miri," Robin says and the girl lowers her gaze, fidgeting.

"But I wanted to see Mama," she replies in a small voice making Regina's heart break.

"It's alright sweetheart," she tells Miriam, lowering herself to the ground and her daughter runs into her arms.

"I'm sorry Mama, I didn't mean to upset you, I won't sing anymore," Miri cries into her mother's chest.

"And deprive me of your beautiful voice? No, that would be too awful for words, honey," Regina argues in a broken voice, feeling guilty for causing her daughter such distress. "I'm the one who should apologize, I shouldn't have yelled. You didn't do anything wrong," she strokes Miri's back softly, feeling the tears soaking through the material of her blouse, holding back her own.

"But you didn't like the song," Miriam hiccups and the sound tears at Regina's heartstrings.

"The song, yes," she answers, because pretending would do no good. She stands up, Miri's legs circling her waist tightly and she sits down the bed, adjusting the girl on her lap to look at her properly. "Only the song, honey, never you."

"Why did it make you sad?" Miriam asks, sniffling, resting her head against Regina's shoulder, calming down under her mother's caresses.

Regina looks up at Robin and he gives her an encouraging smile.

"It reminded me of some things from when I was a little girl," she explains and Miri turns her big, blue, shining eyes towards her.

"Bad things?" She inquires.

Regina nods. "Yes, bad things. You see, my Mother was a bit like Mother Gothel with Rapunzel, she wanted to keep me all to herself, she wanted me to only do what she decided I should do," the more she talks the quieter her voice becomes, as if she is trying to protect her daughter from hearing it all.

"Was she mean to you?" Miri wants to know, placing her little hand on Regina's cheek, catching the tears her mother didn't even feel start to fall.

"Sometimes. You see she didn't know how to love very well and she thought she was doing what was best for me. She didn't realise it was hurting me," Regina swallows with difficulty, thinking about a time where she wasn't doing much better with her own son.

"But you always know what's best for us. That's why I liked the song," Miriam admits and Regina lets escape a sobbing chuckle.

"I didn't always, Miri, but you have to believe me when I say I would never do to you what my mother did."

Miriam looks at her, puzzled. "I know that," she says, her blind and utter faith in her mother never questioned.

"We all do," Henry announces from the doorway, his arm around Roland's shoulders as they both smile softly.

They join mother and daughter on the bed and Robin follows, the five of them pressed together, the boys surrounding their girls with their arms and their love, forming a messy heap and it feels like a balm on Regina's heart. Her family put together after years of hardship and pain but she would do it all all over again if it meant she would find herself here today.


	27. Missing Year prompt: One for all

**_A/N: I needed something to put me back in the OQ writing mood and this anon prompt I received on tumblr a while ago looked perfect: "OQ missing year : Someone goes to try to get Regina but to her surprise the Merry Men immediately stand to her aide Nothing crackly I just would love to see them help and protect her :)". So here you go, tell me what you think! A big thanks to my darling Manon for her beta work, and as always your reviews and notifications brighten my day!_**

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**One for all and all for one**

Regina didn't hear them coming. She was too busy healing the last remaining victim from the most recent attack by the flying monkeys. The beasts seemed to get more and more ruthless each time, their goal to cause maximum damage obvious.

Regina's magic combined with the Merry Men's arrows had driven them away, she thought the danger was ward off, she never would have expected it to come from a group of the castle's inhabitants.

They gathered behind her, dark looks thrown her way, their whispers of discontent growing louder until one man took the lead, declaring that the monkeys obviously were after the 'bitch', so why shouldn't they just deliver her to them and finally be left in peace? His little speech received some cheers and soon the bravest of them were moving towards the Queen kneeling on the ground.

They didn't get far though, for their path was blocked by the imposing stature of Little John. "I would turn back now if I were you," he told them, his crossbow firmly in his hands, the other Merry Men still standing forming a protective circle around Regina.

"Let us through, we're going to end this now. No one else has to suffer, they only want her," the leader ordered, standing toe to toe with John but needing to crane his neck to look him in the eyes.

Little John scoffed. "She is healing those who have been hurt, no one was forced to fight, and if you are stupid enough to think it will stop if they capture the Queen, maybe you don't belong here."

The man gaped at him. "You're really defending her?"

"Well, it's her castle. You don't like it, you should leave," John shrugged.

"It is the Princess Snow's castle by right," the man replied haughtily.

"Why don't you go and tell her about your intentions then? I'm sure she would love to hear all about it," John replied, and while the leader seemed to consider the idea, those who had followed him looked suddenly uncomfortable.

"The witch is a menace, she will turn against us sooner or later. It is best for all of us if we get rid of her now," the man insisted, pulling out his dagger, and all hell broke loose.

Regina remained oblivious through it all, her focus entirely on the young man lying before her. He was barely out of his teens, way too young to be fighting against such dangerous beasts. She was trying, and failing, not to think about Henry, and how eager her boy always was to be part of the action, it could be him now, wounded and bleeding on the ground. The mere thought was intolerable.

She had used so much power to help the victims she knew she would run out soon, her energy was dwindling fast. Healing did not mix well with dark magic, even if she had gotten much better at it lately.

She was visualizing the capillaries and vessels that needed to be repaired to stop the bleeding, the flow returning to the various organs, his heart beating stronger, his skin regaining some colors as it was stitched back up, his breathing becoming calmer. She could feel her own blood pounding in her ears so strongly, blocking all sounds, she didn't notice when the fluid began to stream slowly but steadily out of her ears and eyes, making her vision blurry, the young man's face was suddenly out of focus, Henry's appearing in its stead.

She gasped, scrambling to keep the connection and finish the process but she was jostled, the link was broken and her world turned black.

* * *

Regina was in and out of consciousness for two nights and a full day, more out than in actually, a few seconds here and there where she tried to open her eyes but the lids were too heavy to cooperate and she was sent back to her world of endless nightmares and visions of horrors.

At last she came to, the morning light pouring into the makeshift infirmary they had created after the first attack, making her frown and scrunch her nose as it hurt her sensitive eyes. A light chuckle coming from her right hastened the waking up process to find out who would dare to mock her. When her gaze fell on the outlaw, she internally rolled her eyes, it could only be him.

"You are quite adorable when you wake up, milady," he commented softly, careful not to disturb his sleeping son. Roland was pressed against his side, nestled under the arm the monkeys hadn't tried to tear off when Robin had foolishly stood in their path to get Regina.

"You sound pretty chirpy for someone who almost found himself armless through some misplaced sense of chivalry," Regina retorted, raising an eyebrow in challenge. _Adorable, as if_.

"I had a talented healer, to whom I am entirely grateful," he said, his tone even, still soft, not raising to the bait.

She snorted, stifling the memories of the panic she had felt when Robin had fallen, clutching his dislocated arm, biting his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood to stop himself from crying in pain. He had been one of the first she had treated once the monkeys had been defeated, but she told herself it was only because she didn't want to risk his son losing his only remaining parent.

"You wouldn't have needed healing if you had been reasonable and stayed out of my way," she countered harshly, too loudly and Roland shifted, scrunching his nose. Robin soothed him and the boy sighed, his breath evening out again.

Regina looked away from the display -feeling a pang of longing in her heart-, towards the foot of the bed, eyebrows raising when she caught sight of Little John asleep on a chair there. A quick sweep of the room and she noticed that other Merry Men were scattered here and there, most of them asleep or dozing but still clutching the hilt of their daggers tightly.

"Your men are awfully protective of you it seems," she commented in a lower voice.

"They're not here for me, Milady," Robin answered causing Regina to frown, confused. "Don't you remember what happened before you were brought here?"

She began to shake her head, looking around again as she racked her brain to call the memories back to the surface, until she noticed the young man in the bed opposite them. It all came back to her then, how her attempt at healing him had been rudely interrupted and she had been unable to stop it in her weakened state.

"There was a fight," she said tentatively, her eyes still firmly settled on the youth.

"Yes," Robin confirmed. "Some cowards decided we would all be better off without you and took matters into their own hands. My men intervened but we feared they might try something while you couldn't defend yourself," he didn't mince his words, he knew her enough to understand that she wouldn't appreciate it.

"Who can blame them?" She asked rhetorically as she pushed the covers off her and rose up. She ignored the dizziness and the headache pulsing at her brow and walked the few steps separating her from the injured lad.

"Regina," Robin called out, forgetting propriety in his concern, watching her wobbling unsteadily on her feet. "You should give yourself more time," he tried but she ignored him.

She gripped the side of the bed as she reached it, looking down at the face that had haunted her troubled sleep as it mixed with Henry's. He looked fine enough, on the mend, healthy colors had returned to his cheeks and lips, he didn't seem to be in pain. She still felt the need to check though, and she raised a hand to move it up and down his body and detect any damage she might have missed the first time. The simple effort took away what little energy she had rebuilt and she faltered, her legs giving out and she would have fallen if not for the two strong hands that clasped her arms and kept her up.

"That's quite enough exertion for today, I think, Your Majesty," Little John stated and she couldn't find it in herself to protest.

He helped her back to her bed and she nodded her thanks. "I don't even know his name," she whispered, struggling to keep her eyes open as exhaustion threatened to pull her under once more.

"His name is Thomas, Milady, he is one of ours. We took him in after his parents were swept away by some sort of plague," Robin told her. "We are very grateful for everything you did for us, but now it would probably be a good idea for you to get some more rest."

She babbled something he couldn't understand, though he thought he heard the words 'it was all my fault anyway' at the end.

"You should rest too, Robin," John said. "Don't worry, we will look out for her," he added when he saw how conflicted Robin was.

"What changed your mind about her?" Robin had to ask and John shrugged.

"This little one," he said simply, nodding at Roland. "Among other things. She was most certainly evil once, but maybe people can truly change."

Robin couldn't help but smile and he let sleep claim him as well.

* * *

A few days later, Regina, Robin and Thomas all left the infirmary, accompanied by the Merry Men and Roland. The young man had profusely thanked Regina about ten times for saving him, rendering the monarch more and more uncomfortable, to the point where she sent a pleading look to Robin for him to intervene. Of course, the outlaw only smiled at her in that infuriating way of his and let her deal with the blubbering mess his man had become.

She was close to shut him up with her magic when a frantic gesture from Much the Miller's son, if she wasn't mistaken, just at the corner of her vision field seemed to do the trick.

They headed to the main Hall, the men watching out and throwing glares at some people, Regina noticed, who immediately bowed and then scuttered away as fast as they could. Some of the rebels, she assumed. John had told them that the leader had been given a choice between imprisonment and leaving of his own accord, and he had chosen the latter, the others had been pardoned. She had been surprised that the Charmings' decision had been so well-received, she had trouble imagining that the castle's inhabitants would be on her side rather than with one of their own, but then crowds were fickle like that.

She had gotten a few well-wishers during the visiting hours at the infirmary, they were never there only for her of course, but some stopped by as they went to see their loved ones, and both Snow and Robin had a great time commenting on her various expressions of surprise through it all.

As they entered the Hall and gathered around the Merry Men table, Roland's hand tightly clasped in her own preventing her from going to her usual seat, she realised that this felt right, that she didn't have any desire to be on her own as she usually did.

She sat on the bench, Roland immediately claiming seat on her lap, while Robin settled opposite them, smiling fondly at them, and she found herself returning it for just a second. This rugged band of men who had no lost love for her not that long ago had accepted her amongst their rank, protected her even, and decided to give her the chance to prove herself. It was more than she could have ever expected. Perhaps this was a part of what Snow had said she could find if only she kept her heart where it belonged.


	28. Missing Year: The calm before the storm

_A/N: Earlier this month it was my wonderful twin, Jessie ( fiadorable) 's birthday and it inspired me to complete a prompt for the Nightmares verse I was asked for a while ago. This is inspired by the town line scene from season 4 episode 11 because Outlaw Queen has so many parallels between the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke that it made me wonder "what if this had happened before?". Part of the Nightmares verse from chapters 6, 13, 18 and 22 but can stand n its own. _

_Please tell me what you think!_

* * *

**The calm before the storm**

It was happening, the curse was boiling away in the cauldron, puffing its tinted smoke that would soon cover all the land. They had been so close to succeed, but with Zelena's little addition it seemed they had done it all for nothing.

Regina left the room, giving Snow and Charming some space to enjoy their unexpected reunion, and she found Robin waiting for her. She heaved a defeated sigh and his expression darkened in worry.

"What happened?" He asked softly, crossing the distance between them until he was standing right in her space.

Her head fell forward, her long dark tresses obscuring her face from view and he couldn't have that. He tipped her chin up to look in her eyes. "It didn't work then?" He tried to guess but she shook her head.

"It did, both Snow and David are alive and well," she replied, her voice rough with contained emotion.

He frowned, confused. "Then what is it?"

Regina closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath, and as she reopened them, they caught sight of the tattoo engraved on the skin of his right forearm as he was still holding up her chin. She covered it with her fingers, the tips tingling at the contact.

"Zelena happened," she answered at last, hoarsely, her eyes flashing with fury. "She tampered with the spell, added a memory potion to it."

"What does it mean?" He wanted to know, the scenario forming in his mind wasn't engaging in any way.

She straightened her head, immersing her gaze in his, and Robin had to stifle a gasp at the intensity of the feelings reflected there.

"It means that we won't remember why we cast the Curse. Every memories related to meeting Zelena and fighting her will be erased to leave us helpless and defenseless against her," she told him and his eyes widened, the fingers at her chin twitched and moved to cup her cheek.

"Every memories," he repeated breathlessly, disbelieving.

"Almost a year of our lives gone," Regina whispered, leaning into the contact, knowing that they had very few moments left until it would all turn to ash. All the painfully built complicity, everything they had shared with each other, the feelings simmering under the surface that she couldn't let blossom for fear of losing his friendship, and Roland, her brave little Knight, who had both picked at the deep wounds left open and bleeding by Henry's departure, and closed them with magic kisses and dimpled smiles; it would all be gone soon enough.

"We will have never known each other," Robin murmured, the mere thought intolerable, and the shaky breath she took in reply told him it was very much mutual.

"We will be back in Storybrooke as if we had never left, with no idea of the danger lurking in the shadows," she said, tightening her grip on his wrist as the first bout of thunder shook the castle.

"You will find a way, I know you will. You and the Prince and Princess," he tried to cheer her up but knew he had failed when she gave him a self-deprecating laugh.

"A year back everyone still hated me, they will all think I am somehow responsible for all of this. I will be lucky if I'm not thrown into a cell five minutes after our return."

"I will stand by your side," he affirmed strongly and she smiled fondly at him.

"You will only remember whatever you knew about me before all of this…" she started but he cut her off.

"I refuse to believe that I could forget you completely," he said, bringing their foreheads together. "You mean too much to me. I feel like I have always known you."

If only he knew, Regina thought, if only he knew that his fate had been chained to hers long ago with some pixie dust sprinkled upon it to make it shine and dangle hope in front of her as you would a carrot for a donkey. If only he knew that this feeling he had was due to his soul being tethered to one of the worst monsters this land had ever known. This lion-hearted, selfless man who had braved her temper time and time again just to make sure that she wouldn't get carried away with her despair.

Precious seconds were slipping away from them and there was only one thing that Regina could think about doing in this moment. She pressed her lips against his, not intending to let it linger for fear that she would never let go, but still trying to convey all that he made her feel, all that he had come to mean to her as well. Robin had other ideas. He circled her waist with one arm, the fingers of his right hand lost themselves in her dark mane of hair, and he deepened the kiss until they were too breathless to sustain it.

"I…" she let out, there was so much that she wanted to say but the words were stuck in her throat. He seemed to understand though, he always seemed to understand, and he nodded gently.

"I know," he told her simply. "We will find each other again Regina, I can't accept any other alternative."

"Papa, Gina," Roland's voice broke through, and they both turned towards the shaking little boy; "I'm scared," he said, bare feet hitting the cold stone floor as he run to them.

They took him in their open arms, pressing their faces against his, Regina smoothing the wild curls, softly murmuring to him sweet nothings while Robin was rubbing his back.

They stayed like this, holding onto each other, as the rumble of thunder resounded closer and closer, tearing everything apart. The smoke soon surrounded them, and before they knew it the world disappeared, and their minds turned blank as the Curse took their memories, their last thought one of determination, that they would be reunited again, it couldn't be otherwise.


End file.
